The Box Jellyfish

The Box Jellyfish

For Todays Article Will Be About..

The Box Jellyfish! The Box Jellyfish Was Discovered By Doctor Hugo Flecker Who Was Wondering Why So Many Swimmers Were Dying. Namely A Five Year Old Boy Who Was Stung & Unfortunately Passed Away Due To The Venom. They Were Officially Discovered & Named On January 20th 1955 Off The Cost Of Cardwell, North Queensland. Box Jellyfish Aren’t Just Off The Coast Of Australia Either, They Are All Around The World. But With The Diversity Of These Creatures Comes Different Species. The Phrasing “Box Jellyfish” Is Somewhat If A Umbrella Term. From Taxonomy & Statistics As Of 2018, There Are 51 Species Of Box Jellyfish That We Have Discovered. We Most Likely Have Not Discovered Them All, With That Being Said Let Us Dive Into The Most Lethal Of The Box Jellyfish.

The Most Lethal List

The Australian Box Jellyfish (Chironex Fleckri)

The Australian Box Jellyfish Is Considered The Most Venomous Jellyfish.

As You Can Guess This Was Most Likely The First Discovered Species Of Box Jellyfish. They Live Mostly Off The Northern Coast Of Australia In Shallow Waters Waiting To Strike. They Also Can Get Up To 10 Feet Long, They Are The Also The Longest Box Jellyfish. The Bell However, Can Only Reach 1 Foot Long. When These Chironex Fleckri Swim, Their Tentacles Retract To Around 5.9 Inches, But When They Hunt Their Tentacles Can Get As Long As 3 Meters (10 Feet). The Tentacles Are Covered With A High Concentration Of Stinging Cells Called Cnidocytes Which Are Activated By Pressure And A Chemical Trigger; They React To Proteinous Chemicals. The Way That They Transmit Venom Is That Their Tentacles Are Covered In Biological Traps That Are Best Known As Nematocysts Which Are Tiny Darts Packed With Venom. They Grip Hold Of Their Unfortunate Victim & Inject Their Venom. Should You Be Unfortunate Enough To Get Stung, You Have To Get Out Of The Water & Rinse The Area With An Acetic Acid, Vinegar Working Best. Do This For Half Of A Minute Then Go To A Hospital For Immediate Treatment. However In Most Cases The Victim Suffers Paralysis, Cardiac Arrest, & Unfortunately Sometimes Death. They Have Caused 60 Reported Deaths In The Last 100 Years. Chironex Fleckri Are Typically Found In The Waters North Of Bundaberg, Queensland, & Most Of Northern Australia. The First Reported Death Came From Cardwell Queensland Which Is A Quite Small Town Only Having 1,309 People. The Chironex Fleckri Have Evolved To Be So Large Due To Cold-water Gigantism. Cold-Water Gigantism Is When Animals Grow Larger Due To There Being More Oxygen In The Water. The Surplus Of Oxygen Is Caused Because The Colder A Liquid Is The More Gas It Can Dissolve. Cold-Water Gigantism Is The Same Reason That Deep Sea Creatures (Namely The Giant Ribbon Worm) Can Grow To Be 30 Meters Long. These Box Jellyfish Reproduce Sexually & Asexually. The Chironex Fleckri Is The Most Lethal Jellyfish In Our Waters, So Watch Out.

The Common Kingslayer (Malo Kingi)

The Malo Kingi Are Named After An American Tourist Named Robert King Who Was In Queensland & Unfortunately, Died Due To The Lethal Sting. The Malo Kingi Is No Bigger Then The Size Of A Human Finger Nail, They Are Nearly Transparent Making Them Hard To Spot.

However, The Malo Kingi Has Some Of The Most Potent Venom In The World. Thankfully They Are Mostly Found In Queenland. A Typical Set Of Symptoms For This Venom Is, Vomiting, Severe Back Pain, Muscle Cramps, Anxiety, Severe Sweating, & Increased Heart-rate. Malo Kingi & 19 Other Species All Irukandji Syndrome. Irukandji Syndrome Has Caused 70 Reported Deaths As Of 2022. Approximately 30% Of All Cases Result In A Form Of Heart Failure, Or Lung Failure. The Malo Kingi Has 69 Confirmed Deaths Since 1883, However There Could Be More Deaths That Have Been Caused. The Malo Kingi Can Be Halo Banded. This Means They Appear With Halo Like Rings Encircling Their Tentacles. Their Nemocyst Warts Are Light Violet In Colour. The Malo Kingi Has A Frown Shaped Rhopaliar Niche Ostium, & Perradial Lappets That Have 2 Rows Of Warts. Unfortunately We Have Yet To Record Their Mating Cycles, System, & If There Is Any Involvement From The Parents  After Birth There.  Is No There Is Much Biological Work To Be Done To Understand These Creatures. The Malo Kingi Is A Vastly Undiscovered Species & There Is Still Very Much To Learn About Them.

Irukandji Jellyfish (Carukia Barnesi)

The Carukia Barnesi Is A Type Of Irukandji Jellyfish. It Was Discovered By Jack Barnes, Jack Barnes Was A Lifeguard Who Allowed Him To Be Stung By The Jellyfish To Determine If This Is What Caused Irukandji Syndrome. This Type Of Box Jellyfish Cause Irukandji Syndrome. This Syndrome Causes Severe Muscle Cramping, Severe Pain In The Abdomen, & Can Even Lead To Life Threatening Cardiac Complications. The Carukia Barnesi Lives Off The Coast Of North Queensland Australia. They Can Range Anywhere From 5 Centimeters To 50 Centimeters.

Due To The Carukia Barnesi’s Size They Are Incredibly Hard To Spot. A mature Carukia Barnesi's Bell Is Only 12 By 30 Millimetres (0.47 By 1.18 Inches) In Height. It Has Four Contractile Tentacles, One Extending From Each Bottom Corner Of Its Bell, Ranging In Length From 5 To 50 Centimetres (2.0 To 19.7 Inches). They Follow An Odd Life Cycle, Their 2 Main Stages Are Juvenile Benthic Sessile Polyps, & Their Full Grown Adult Motile Pelagic Medusae. Unfortunately The Mating System For Carukia Barnesi Has Yet To Be Recorded. However We Do Know That The Polyps Reproduce Asexually & The Adults Reproduce Sexually. There Is No Evidence That After The Larvae Is Produced That The Parents Are Involved At All. This Species Does Not Possess Any Traits Of Hermaphroditism.

Our Conclusion

Box Jellyfish Are Very Diverse & Extremely Venomous. They Are Vastly Undiscovered So We Still Have A Lot To Learn About These Marine Assassins. Also, Please Be Safe If You Go Swimming Off Of The Cost Of Queensland Australia.

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