Freshwater jellyfish in Virginia

Hey there old friends!

I haven't been doing much fishing lately, but did get away recently to a small public lake near Charlottesville. I was surprised to see a small jellyfish swimming along near the surface. In all my years of fishing I have never seen a freshwater jellyfish or heard other people mention it. A few moments later I saw several more swimming along.

These were about the size of a quarter, small but visible tentacles, and I think had that 4-lobed cloverleaf type pattern in the center.

Brackish water - yeah, I cn understand that. Maybe even up-river from brackish water in case they made it further than usual. But this is a land-locked lake near the mountains in central Virginia.

Do you see little jellyfish in your freshwater lakes?

Yes, I have seen them in some lakes here in KY. According to studies, they can be present in almost any body of freshwater in the USA.

We see them at Holiday Lake but only late summer with 80 plus water temps on sunny days. Saw them two weeks ago but none last weekend. All over the lake, shallow and deep water.

First time i saw them I didn't tell nobody.