August’s coastal creature feature was the salp.  Even though they look like grapelike jellyfish, salps are actually more closely related to fish, mammals, and other bony animals.  Salps are harmless, free-living tunicates, which are invertebrate chordates.  When they are young larvae, they and other tunicates have some similar characteristics to bony animals.  For example, salp larvae have a notocord, or a precursor to a spinal cord, which is lost in the adult salp.  A salp has a barrel-shaped body and five muscle bands which pump water through its body for respiration, feeding, and locomotion. A pair of distinctive projections, or horns, marks the back end of the body.  These animals are found individually or in long chains that are easily separated.  Salps frequent the Jersey shore when ocean     currents and winds bring warm Gulf Stream waters close to shore.  There were no correct entries for this creature feature.

This month’s creature feature is a jellyfish with a sting. It is sometimes called a "summer jellyfish," and is the dominant and conspicuous jellyfish of the bays and estuaries where it tolerates a wide range of salinities.  Recently, it has been seen in Barnegat Bay.  To enter for a chance to win a COA T-shirt, send your guess by mail, fax, or e-mail (PO Box 505, Sandy Hook, NJ 07732; fax 732-872-8041; e-mail SandyHook@CleanOceanAction.org).

(What’s Cool at Ice and Coastal Creature Feature appear every other month.)