MONROE COUNTY, Mo. — A day on the water at Mark Twain State Park could have you seeing more than fish and birds.
An employee with the Missouri Department of Conservation recently took a video of dozens of freshwater jellyfish floating on the surface of Lake Tom Sawyer. September is the perfect time to see the creatures, MDC said.
The freshwater jellyfish seen in Missouri has the typical jellyfish form: a round, umbrella-like body. The body is lined with a fringe of up to 400 tentacles. The jellyfish are clear, but sometimes have a light tint of tan, gray, white, green or blue. The four white, opaque patches on a jellyfish are the gonads—the organs that make sperm and eggs.
The jellyfish get to about one-inch in diameter when fully grown, and they’re most popular in late summer.
