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Stunning Stinger

For such small, delicate creatures, they pack mighty painful stings. Known as a clinging jellyfish because they attach to seagrasses and seaweeds, Gonionemus are found along Pacific and Atlantic coast of North America and in waters near Vladivostok, Russia. Interest in the jellies has renewed in recent years, when stings similar to those described in Russia, which include severe pain, respiratory and neurological symptoms, suddenly started occurring in and around Cape Cod. The first genetic study of the diversity of clinging jellyfish populations discovered some surprising links among distant communities and also revealed there may be more than one species of the infamous stinger. (Photo by Annette Govindarajan, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)