| Carybdea marsupialis | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Cnidaria |
| Class: | Cubozoa |
| Order: | Carybdeida |
| Family: | Carybdeidae |
| Genus: | Carybdea |
| Species: | C. marsupialis |
| Binomial name | |
| Carybdea marsupialis | |
Carybdea marsupialis is a venomous species of box jellyfish, in the small family Carybdeidae within the class Cubozoa.
Carybdea marsupialis is a small transparent jellyfish with a box-shaped bell [2] about 3 cm (1 in) across, at the four lower corners of which are four elongated tentacles up to 30 cm (12 in) long. The bell has a number of small white or yellowish warts with stinging cells, and near the margin, equidistant from the tentacles, are four rhopalia (sensory structures with ocelli). This species can be distinguished from other similar species by the red banding on the tentacles. [3] [4]
Carybdea marsupialis was once considered a widespread species found in warm oceans around the world. Taxonomic reviews have shown that most of these are other species in the genus Carybdea , with the true C. marsupialis essentially restricted to the Mediterranean Sea. [5] It is the only box jellyfish in this sea. [6] It is pelagic and is present in the upper few metres of the sea. [4]
Carybdea marsupialis is a predator and feeds on invertebrates and even small fish which it captures with the nematocysts (stinging cells) in its tentacles, often in shallow waters. It swims by making rapid contractions of the bell and can move at a speed of between 3 and 6 m (10 and 20 ft) per minute. [7] Like other species in its genus it has comparatively sophisticated eyes with lenses. With their help it can detect obstacles such as posts or a ship's rudder and avoid them. It often occurs in small groups. The sting is venomous to humans but some swimmers do not notice any painful sensation. [4] In severe cases, the symptoms can be systemic, including pain at the sting site and elsewhere, paresthesia, hyperesthesia and skin lesions, and may take a few months to fully disappear. [6] Although it is far less dangerous than some box jellyfish species from other parts of the world, it is considered the second-most significant stinging jellyfish in the Mediterranean (after Pelagia noctiluca ). [8]
The life history of this box jellyfish is complex. The sexes are separate and sexual reproduction takes place with the emission of gametes into the open water. After fertilisation, a planula larva forms which later develops into a cubopolyp with a few tentacles. [4] This can reproduce asexually by budding, the buds soon becoming detached. At first they creep across the substrate with the tentacular region leading. During this mobile stage, pieces may become detached or the cubopolyp may split transversely; these fragments regenerate their missing parts within 72 hours. [9] The resulting polyps then attach themselves to the substrate and grow a full complement of 24 tentacles. About a month later they become detached, the multiple tentacles are reabsorbed and the four tentacles typical of the medusa phase develop. [4] [9]
Cnidaria is a phylum under kingdom Animalia containing over 11,000 species of aquatic animals found both in fresh water and marine environments, including jellyfish, hydroids, sea anemones, corals and some of the smallest marine parasites. Their distinguishing features are a decentralized nervous system distributed throughout a gelatinous body and the presence of cnidocytes or cnidoblasts, specialized cells with ejectable flagella used mainly for envenomation and capturing prey. Their bodies consist of mesoglea, a non-living, jelly-like substance, sandwiched between two layers of epithelium that are mostly one cell thick. Cnidarians are also some of the only animals that can reproduce both sexually and asexually.
Jellyfish, also known as sea jellies, are the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, which is a major part of the phylum Cnidaria.
The Scyphozoa are an exclusively marine class of the phylum Cnidaria, referred to as the true jellyfish.
Box jellyfish are cnidarian invertebrates distinguished by their box-like 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.
Chironex fleckeri, commonly known as the Australian box jelly, and nicknamed the sea wasp, is a species of extremely venomous box jellyfish found in coastal waters from northern Australia and New Guinea to Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore, the Philippines and Vietnam. It has been described as "the most lethal jellyfish in the world", with at least 64 known deaths in Australia from 1884 to 2021.
Medusozoa is a clade in the phylum Cnidaria, and is often considered a subphylum. It includes the classes Hydrozoa, Scyphozoa, Staurozoa and Cubozoa, and possibly the parasitic Polypodiozoa. Medusozoans are distinguished by having a medusa stage in their often complex life cycle, a medusa typically being an umbrella-shaped body with stinging tentacles around the edge. With the exception of some Hydrozoa, all are called jellyfish in their free-swimming medusa phase.
The Irukandji jellyfish are any of several similar, extremely venomous species of rare jellyfish. With a very small adult size of about a cubic centimetre, they are both the smallest and one of the most venomous jellyfish in the world. They inhabit the northern marine waters of Australia, and cost the Australian government $AUD 3 billion annually through tourism losses and medical costs associated with stings. This type of jellyfish reproduces sexually with eggs and sperm. They fire their stingers into their victim, causing a condition known in humans as Irukandji syndrome, which can be fatal and difficult to immediately recognise due to the delayed effects of the venom. There are about 16 known species of Irukandji, of which Carukia barnesi, Malo kingi, Malo maxima, Malo filipina and Malo bella are the best known.
Carybdea is a genus of venomous box jellyfish within the family Carybdeidae that currently consists of a total of 8 species. This genus of jellyfish are often found in warm waters around the world in waters such as the Mediterranean Sea, the Pacific Ocean, and off the coast of Africa. Their sting can cause a range of effects depending on the species. These invertebrates will go through both sexual and asexual reproduction as they transform from a polyp to medusa. Carybdea have a box-shaped bell with four tentacles and eye-like sensory structures. There are distinct physical markings that differentiate many species within the genus. While Carybdea use their venom to act as predators, they are also preyed on by turtles and various fish. They feed on plankton, invertebrates, fish, and some crustaceans.
Chirodropidae is a family of venomous box jellyfish within the class Cubozoa. Like other members of the order Chirodropida, they have branched pedalia, in contrast to the unbranched pedalia of box jellyfish in the order Carybdeida. Each branch houses its own individual tentacle. Nematocyst composition and type can vary among individuals within this family based on body size and life stage. Like other box jellyfish, chirodropids can be found in coastal and shallow marine areas, but they have also been found to occur at benthic depths.
Alatina alata(Reynaud, 1830), often called a sea wasp, is a species of box jellyfish found in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans and in the Caribbean and Arabian Sea.
Chrysaora hysoscella, the compass jellyfish, is a common species of jellyfish that inhabits coastal waters in temperate regions of the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, including the North Sea and Mediterranean Sea. In the past it was also recorded in the southeastern Atlantic, including South Africa, but this was caused by confusion with close relatives; C. africana, C. fulgida and an undescribed species tentatively referred to as "C. agulhensis".
Malo is one of a genus of box jellies in the family Carybdeida in the Phylum Cnidaria. It has four known species, three of which were described by the Australian marine biologist Lisa-Ann Gershwin. The genus was discovered in 2005. Many of the species are known for their paralytic and deadly affect. Many species in the Malo genus are very small and hard to capture and study. Many species of Malo have been captured on the Western and Eastern cost of Australia. Malo appear to be solidarity jellies.
Carukia barnesi is an extremely venomous jellyfish found near Australia. Stings can result in Irukandji syndrome, and this species is commonly known as Irukandji jellyfish, although this name does not distinguish it from other Irukandji jellyfish such as Malo kingi.
Carybdea murrayana, the South African box jellyfish, is a venomous species of cnidarian, in the small family Carybdeidae within the class Cubozoa.
Alatina is a genus of box jellyfish within class Cubozoa. It is the largest of the three known genera in the family Alatinidae, and the only one which is not monotypic. It contains the following ten species:
Chironex yamaguchii, commonly known as ハブクラゲ and as "hub jellyfish" due to erroneous machine translations, is a species of box jellyfish found in coastal waters around Japan, on Okinawa and the Ryukyu Islands, and in the Philippines. Discovered in 2009, it is highly venomous and has been the cause of several deaths in Japanese waters.
The thimble jellyfish is a species of cnidarian found in the warm West Atlantic Ocean, including the Caribbean. It is a tiny jellyfish with a straight-sided, flat-topped bell. This jellyfish is the most common cause of seabather's eruption, a reaction caused by the injection of juvenile jellyfish nematocysts into human skin.
Morbakka virulenta is a species of box jellyfish that is found in waters near the islands of Japan. The species was originally described in the genus Tamoya by Kamakichi Kishinouye in 1910. However, unlike other species of that genus, this jellyfish did not have the vertical gastric phacellae which protect the inside of the bell with nematocyst warts. As a result, it was reclassified to the genus Morbakka due to its distinctively shaped rhopaliar horns which resemble rabbit ears. Because of its painful stings, M. virulenta has been nicknamed Hikurage, which is “fire jellyfish” in Japanese.
Chiropsella bronzie is a species of box jellyfish. It is considered much less of a threat to humans than some of its relatives. The species was described in 2006, and is one of four species in the genus Chiropsella. Chiropsella bronzie can be found in shallow waters off the coast of Queensland, Australia.
Tamoya haplonema is a species of box jellyfish in the genus Tamoya. It is the type species of the genus and was described in 1859. The medusa possesses four tentacles, one each on an inter-radial pedal.