Jellyfish

[Jase]

Are all jellyfish harmful? Is it possible there is a jellyfish you could accidentally touch and not get stung, burned or generally hurt?

[Clanad]

The phylum name for jellyfish is Cnidarian and translates, roughly to Stinging Nettle or Stinging Animal.  The 9,000 odd species within this phylum (which includes sea anemones and coral) all have the ability to sting.  Most, however, are not terribly noticeable to humans. However, if you did touch one with your hands and then rubbed your eyes (or other sensitive body parts) with your hands, severe discomfort could result.  Many jellyfish do sting and cause rash, and some, like the Portuguese Man of War, can be fatal to humans when stung. You can accidently touch many different varieties of jellyfish and not really notice it, especailly the very small ones...

[honuhuleia]

According to jellyfish size doesn't always matter. Micro jellies known as the hydromedusa(sp) are becoming quite a nuisance in Hawaii. One goes in for a swim and comes out covered with what appears to be a rather bad rash.

To answer your question Jase, there is a jelly fish in hawaii that you can sometimes touch and escape unscathed. I could be wrong but I believe the jellies are the Moon Jelly fish.

[Noweia]

There are jellyfish that aren't harmful to people - I remember going down to a local pier and lifting jellyfish out of the water for a closer look (I live in the UK) - they must have had the ability to sting, but the sting must not have been effective against people.