Freshwater Jellyfish Caught on Camera in a Minnesota Lake

There's a lot of things living in Minnesota's lakes. Hundreds of varieties of fish, plants, amphibians, reptiles and more all call our 10,000 lakes home. But did you know that there are also jellyfish in some Minnesota lakes?

The Minnesota Fishing page is run by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. They shared an incredible photo recently of a freshwater jellyfish, and along with it shared some more information on our squishy friends:

Freshwater jellyfish can be found in some Minnesotan lakes during late summer. The free-floating form of this quarter-sized creature's life cycle, called a medusa, captures zooplankton in its tentacles similarly to its ocean cousin. Unlike ocean jellyfish, these little jellies can't sting you. No need to be alarmed when they show up in large numbers!

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The feshwater jellyfish is a tiny little creature, measuring only 5–25 mm in diameter, and is translucent with a whitish or greenish tinge. The total number of tentacles they have vary from 50 to 500, but none of them will sting you.

Some of the lakes they have been spotted in between 1999 and 2021 include:

•  Kettle
• Leech Lake
• Little Fork
• Lower Minnesota River
• Lower St. Croix River
• Rainy Headwaters
• Vermilion

Learn more about freshwater jellyfish here, and keep your eyes peeled while you're on the water this summer.