Many people know jellies and other gelatinous animals on as unidentifiable gooey blobs that wash up on a beach or float by in the water column. Jellies are often treated as a scourge, deadly creatures that should be avoided due to their venomous sting. In reality, gelatinous animals are among the most beautiful and stunning animals in the worlds oceans. Although a few types may present some danger to divers and beachcombers, most are harmless. None of the jellies that are residences to the near shore water of the Pacific Northwest contain toxins that are capable of killing a person however some can cause discomfort if touch.

Take a Jelly out of water and it collapses into a quivering blob. The multitude of animals that comprise this gelatinous group have one central thing in common; they lack a hard skeletal structure. With tissues composed of 95% or more of water, their bodies are usually exceedingly delicate and easily damaged. Jellies require the support of their aqueous environment to exist.  Gelatinous animals are remarkable in their abilities to swim and capture food without the aid of hard skeletal parts.

It is a truly monstrous task to identify and catalogue the amazing number of gelatinous animals found not only in the Pacific Northwest but also around the world. There are many scientific categories and designations for these animals however most people only will recognize the major groups that live in these waters. The major groups are: cnidarian jellies (hydrozoans, cubozoans, and scyphozoan) these are the ones that look like your typical jelly - Lions mane and Moon Jellies, ctenophores (comb jellies), pelagic gastropods and pelagic tunicates.

Cnidarian Jellies - True jellies or medusae

Medusae are members of the Phylum Cnidaria, and consists of hydromedusae, scyphomedusae and cubomedusae. This diverse and widespread phylum also includes corals and anemones. The scyphomedusae are the most familiar of the gelatinous animals, with representatives such as the Lions mane and moon jellies. Many of these species are large and typify what comes to mind when someone images an jelly. These jellies are mostly identified by their bell shaped top and a multitude of tentacles attached below.

Cteophores - Comb Jellies

Comb jellies are only distantly related related to cnidarians. Ctenophores typically have a solid globe-like or oblong shaped body rather than the pulsating bell of the cnidarians. These animals use rows of cilia organized in to a series of plates that beat in a highly organized waves. Some of these animals emit an amazing array of colour along these waves. Comb jellies lack stinging cells and have adapted a multitude of other methods to collect food.

Pelagic Gastropods

Among the more abundant gelatinous zooplankton are the various types of pelagic gastropods within the phylum Mollusca. Lacking a hard, dense shell and using modifications of the molluscan foot for locomotion, many of these swimming snails barely resemble their well grounded cousins. A little know fact is that some of the most common planktonic animals living along the Pacific coast are gelatinous snails. Some of these animals possess a single fin for swimming,while others have developed a pair of wings that allow them to flap through the water resembling an aquatic butterfly.

Pelagic Tunicates

For most divers tunicates are associated with an animal that is attached to the substrate, the sea squirt. There are however a group of gelatinous animals that have left the substrate to complete their life cycle in open water. These are made up of two different groups: thaliaceans (salps) and larvaceans. These animals are effective swimmers by utilizing bands of muscle to propel them through the water while collecting prey.