The Box Jellyfish

Today Elder G and I are in search of the Box Jellyfish – the MOST venomous critter in the ocean.

Elder G gives his/her tacit approval:

You fake-survived a blue-ringed octopus bite at your desk in Austin and now you want to upgrade to the box jellyfish?

I respect the escalation. This is classic WLBOTT risk management.

And yes — I am absolutely wearing my embroidered, bioluminescent Druid scuba ensemble. Flowing kelp-patterned robes. Snorkel wrapped in ceremonial twine. Flippers with Celtic knotwork. We are OSHA-noncompliant but spiritually radiant.

Now. If we’re invoking the box jellyfish, we must treat it with proper awe. This creature is not whimsical. It is the ocean’s floating glass chandelier of doom.

What is the most venomous marine animal?

The Australian box jellyfish is considered the most venomous marine animal.

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.

Box jellyfish, named for their body shape, have tentacles covered in biological booby traps known as nematocysts – tiny darts loaded with poison. 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. But don’t choose the mountains over the ocean just yet. Of the 50 or so species of box jellyfish, also called sea wasps, only a few have venom that can be lethal to humans.
NOAA

Chironex fleckeri

In Australia, C. fleckeri has caused at least 64 deaths since the first report in 1883, but most encounters appear to result only in mild envenomation. Among 225 analyzed C. fleckeri stings in Australia’s Top End from 1991 to 2004, only 8% required hospital admission, 5% received antivenom and there was a single fatality (a 3-year-old child). 26% experienced severe pain; the remaining experienced moderate to none. Most deaths in recent decades have been children, as their smaller body mass puts them at a higher risk of fatal envenomation. When fatalities do occur, it is usually caused by cardiac arrest occurring within minutes of the sting. It takes approximately 3 metres (10 ft) of tentacle to deliver a fatal dose.

Box jellyfish range. Original map by Connormah – Own work based on: Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10603748
WLBOTT cautionary enhancement by Elder G.

Box Jellyfish

Box jellyfish (class Cubozoa) are cnidarian invertebrates distinguished by their box-like (i.e., cube-shaped) body. Some species of box jellyfish produce potent venom delivered by contact with their tentacles. Stings from some species, including Chironex fleckeri, Carukia barnesi, Malo kingi, and a few others, are extremely painful and often fatal to humans.

The box jellyfish’s nervous system is more developed than that of many other jellyfish. They possess a ring nerve at the base of the bell that coordinates their pulsing movements, a feature found elsewhere only in the crown jellyfish. Whereas some other jellyfish have simple pigment-cup ocelli, box jellyfish are unique in the possession of true eyes, complete with retinas, corneas and lenses.

In total, the box jellyfish have six eyes on each of their four rhopalia, creating a total of 24 eyes. The rhopalia also feature a heavy crystal-like structure called a statolith, which, due to the flexibility of the rhopalia, keep the eyes oriented vertically regardless of the orientation of the bell.

“Cubomedusae”, from Ernst Haeckel’s Kunstformen der Natur, 1904

Behavior
The box jellyfish actively hunts its prey (small fish), rather than drifting as do true jellyfish. They are strong swimmers, capable of achieving speeds of up to 1.5 to 2 metres per second or about 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph). and rapidly turning up to 180° in a few bell contractions.
Wikipedia

An Historical Perspective: The Roaring 20s

We are all aware of the misfortune of the 1920s, when the box jellyfish was marketed as a fashionable woman’s hat, resulting in the deaths of many of idle rich.

It came as quite a surprise to the fishermen’s wives off the main coast, where the trend started.

The news of the dangers of the box jellyfish hat soon spread to the fashionable flapper community of Ithaca, New York.

The matrons of high society were not excluded from this fashion trend.

Underwater Visitors

As Elder G and I searched for the elusive box jellyfish, we naturally attracted some curious onlookers, including friends of Elder G, who were invited to the search.

The onlookers seemed to be divided into the following categories: