This includes the Australian box jellyfish ( Chironex fleckeri), considered the most venomous marine animal. While box jellyfish are found in warm coastal waters around the world, the lethal varieties are found primarily in the Indo-Pacific region and northern Australia. Of the 50 or so species of box jellyfish, also called sea wasps, only a few have venom that can be lethal to humans. But don’t choose the mountains over the ocean just yet. People and animals unfortunate enough to be injected with this poison may experience paralysis, cardiac arrest, and even death, all within a few minutes of being stung. In Australia, the box jellyfish has caused at least 79 deaths since 1883.They may not look dangerous, but the sting from a box jellyfish could be enough to send you to Davy Jones's locker-a watery grave, that is.īox jellyfish, named for their body shape, have tentacles covered in biological booby traps known as nematocysts - tiny darts loaded with poison.Because it can move, box jellyfish actively hunt for prey. A group of jellyfish is called a bloom or swarm.Light-skinned people are stung more often than dark-skinned people.It has no interest in attacking people.It starts off life as a polyp similar to a coral.It can swim at twice the speed of humans. It has gravity sensors to help it balance and orient itself.The box jellyfish is not a jellyfish at all because it can swim (other jellyfish can't).But it has no brain, gills, lungs, or heart.The box jellyfish feeds and poops from the same multifunction opening.The best remedy for a sting is vinegar, CPR, and urgent medical attention.Its venom kills by paralysing the heart in a contracted state.Its venom can kill a human in 2 minutes.They prey trapped in its tentacles is then hauled up and eaten.When these tentacles are touched, they fire tiny harpoons to paralyse its prey.From each of the lower corners of its body hang up to 15 long, slender, hollow, and venomous tentacles.The box jellyfish can grow as large as a basketball.It lives along the north-eastern coastline of Australia.The box jellyfish is the world's deadliest animal.Nutrients are transported throughout its body by diffusion from cell to cell. The box jellyfish also has no gills or lungs and absorbs oxygen and releases carbon dioxide into the water by diffusion through its ectoderm and endoderm. This neural network allows information to be transmitted without a centralised brain. The box jellyfish does not have a brain but instead has an intricate 'nerve net' of neurons dispersed throughout its mesoglea. It can also sense vibrations, allowing it to detect prey and water turbulence. The box jellyfish also has gravity sensors called statocysts, which detect the earth's gravitational pull, helping the animal balance and orient itself. These eyes are sensitive to light, odour, and orientation and contain pacemakers that regulate the expansion and contraction of the bell, controlling the jellyfish's movement. The box jellyfish also has 24 eyes located in a circular band around the bottom edge of its bell, grouped into four clusters of six eyes each. These stalks have up to 15 long, slender, hollow, and venomous tentacles that can grow up to 4.5 meters long. The box jellyfish has four stalks, called pedalium, hanging from each of the lower corners of the bell.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |