Welcome, Welcome!

by Reef Refuge

Welcome everyone to the first installment of the LooseJawed web blog. Here I will use my knowledge of various topics in Marine Biology to perhaps spark some interest in the minds of those not involved in the Marine Biology community. In my first post I would like to start with the Cnidarians, or as you most likely know them as Jellyfish and Sea Anemones.

Species of Moon Jellyfish. This Jellyfish can be found floating around the majority of the world’s oceans.

Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) swimming around a sea anemone.

For the sake of teaching everyone the way scientists group organisms, I am going to go through the basic levels we use. Going through the basic Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus and Species. The Moon Jellyfish (pictured to the right) is found in the kingdom “Animalia” and the phylum “Cnidaria”. Cnidarians are known for their stinging cells called Cnidocytes. Cnidocytes aren’t only found in Jellyfish, they are also found in certain types of coral. Everyone has seen the Pixar film “Finding Nemo”. Nemo’s home in the beginning of the movie is a sea anemone. Sea anemones also contain these cnidocytes and are therefore classified as Cnidarians along with jellyfish.

While most Cnidarian stings will only cause low to moderate discomfort, there are species out there that are terrifying. For example we have the various species of Box Jellyfish, (Chironex fleckeri, Caruki barnesi, and Malo kingi). These three species produce some of the strongest venom in the world and could cause sever pain and/or death. While there are many other species of Box Jellyfish found all around the world, there are simply too many species to talk about so I’ll focus of Chironex fleckeri.

Chironex fleckeri. The dangerous, but beautiful sea wasp.

Chironex fleckeri is the largest and most well known Box Jellyfish. Also known as the sea wasp, it can grow up to three meters long with a head that can grow to the size of a basketball. Only found in waters stretching from Southeast Asia to Northern Australia, it isn’t the necessarily the venom that kills most people, but the shock from the pain that kills them.

Map showing the distribution of Chironex Fleckeri

Allow me to paint you a picture. You’re going for a swim and are stung by a jellyfish with fifteen, three meter long tentacles, covered in stingers that contain come of the most potent venom in the world. Each tentacle contains millions of these stinging cells and it feels like you’re being stung, not once, but millions of times. Out in the open ocean you may go into shock before reaching shore. Going into shock while swimming doesn’t usually have a happy ending.

Luckily deaths are few and far between from stings thanks to modern medicine. Now we know how to treat the stings and are able to save sting victims. If you find yourself swimming off the northern coast of Australia up to the southern coasts of Southeast Asia, be sure to wear a protective body suit covering your entire body to be sure to not be stung. The Cnidocytes are plentiful on the tentacles but are not very big and shouldn’t be able to penetrate a decent suit.

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