PUT-IN-BAY, Ohio — Lake Erie researchers have recently caught freshwater jellyfish in the lake.
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Researchers with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP) first shared a video of a jellyfish at the end of July, according to WOIO, a CBS affiliate in Cleveland.
In the video, the pulsing see-through jellyfish could be seen in the water.
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On Monday, Stone Laboratory, the Ohio State University outreach program in Put-In-Bay, shared that they, too, had spotted a jellyfish.
“This freshwater jellyfish (Craspedacusta sowerbyi) are native to China’s Yangtze River basin, so are considered non-native. They are not harmful to native species here, so they are not invasive,” Stone Laboratory wrote in a social media post.
Stone Laboratory noted that while they sting prey, their stingers are too small to penetrate human skin.
Justin Chaffin with Stone Laboratory told WOIO that these jellyfish have been in the lake since about 1930, but are rarely ever seen.
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