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Hey guys! It's been a crazy few days around here. Between working on my video, blogging, twittering, facebooking, and working on my currently paying gigs, I feel like a three ring circus except that I'm in all three rings at once. How does THAT work out? Well, I'm excited to say I've received another top 10 bio from one o' those personable VPC's (Very Poisonous Critters). I've constructed a little puzzle above to introduce our current VPC. If you can figure it out without looking below, you get an extra Gold Star for the day!
So, prerequisite drum roll please!!! If you guessed the BJF, you are dead right. And if you didn't get it, you're dead wrong. If you touch one of them, you're at risk of death either way, so be very nice, take a step back, and welcome the Box Jelly Fish to blogger fame!
You may remember that these graceful, floaty little blobs of jelly are cousins of the coral polyps that have built the largest living structure in the world. And I'm sure they're thankful for their cousins' hard work because some of them live not too far from the protective walls of the reef (but not actually ON the reef - a very important distinction).
So why is it that these little guys are so bad? Well, first of all, there are roughly 19 known species of the BJF. And, they're not exactly like true jelly fish in that they actually "hunt" their prey (don't worry - they like shrimp, not people). The smallest of these identified critters from the class Cubozoa is the Carukia Barnesi (named after Dr. Barnes, a general practitioner. He discovered a live specimen in 1966 after spending a few hours on the sea bed staring up into space until one came floating by his mask).
At any rate, Carukia Barnesi is also known as the Irukandji jellyfish. These little guys, roughly an inch across or less, aren't content to just laze around in the sea. No, they're on a mission. They've got places to go, people to see, fish to catch. They actively swim up to 1.8 meters/second. I saw one swimming the other day with a gold medal around it's bell...
They only have four tentacles, which can trail from each corner of their bell up to around 16 inches behind them. Unlike most other jellyfish, they have nematocysts (stinging cells) on their bell as well as their tentacles. It's usually the bell that people come into contact with and are stung by. (That is one bell you do NOT want to ring...)
Usually, the sting is very minor or unnoticed, until 30 (or 5) minutes later, when it begins to feel like you're giving birth to octuplets, only 10 times worse. Now, being a man, I can't even imagine giving birth, period. But I'm thinking that there might be some women out there who wouldn't mind if a few more men had an encounter with a Irukandji jellyfish, just to encourage a little empathy...
This unbearable cramping, spasmodic pain in the lower back and just about every other muscle in the body, along with sweating, vomiting, nausea, respiratory failure and heart attack is known as Irukandji syndrome (ok, maybe child birth isn't quite as bad as that...). There is no anti-venin for the sting, so life-support and lots of vinegar is the recommended fare. Vinegar, when poured over the stung area, neutralizes any unfired stinging cells and can save you from a whole lot more pain.
The name of this little box jelly comes from the "Irukandji" tribe of Aboriginals who lived in Australia's Palm Cove area where the stings were frequently reported. I just keep thinking it's a strange honor to be named after such a VPC, but then it's other people who usually do the naming for you.
The really cool thing about these critters is that they have four sets of six eyes, one cluster on each side of their bell. Wouldn't that be convenient. Then you wouldn't have to have a neck. Which they don't. Nor do they have a central nervous system. Which leaves scientists (and tourists) wondering how they actually utilize those images they're receiving. Amazingly, 4 eyes in each set are simple photo-receptor cells (like the ones on your digital camera sensor) and see light and dark, while 2 eyes actually have a retina, lens, and cornea. In fact, the lower eye also has an iris which adjusts to the brightness of light. And they're far-sighted, too.
The bad thing is that they're transparent, so while they might be able to see us, we can't really see them. The good thing is the waters of Australia are fairly free of them during the dry season (May - November), so the risk of getting attached to one is very slim. There have only been two recorded deaths in the history of Irukandji stings. Like you're more likely to get struck by lightning than to get smacked by an Irukandji jelly. So rest easy. And if you're really nervous about it, buy a pair of nylons because they can't sting through them. Unless they're fishnet, but that might be a little weird anyway...All in all, these little VPC's are the most venomous creatures in the animal kingdom known to man. I think they must have gotten that way by being called "Block Head" and "24 Eyes" in school. But that's just my opinion. I'm going to mind my own business, and pack a bottle of vinegar for lunch. By the way, the best news of all is that there are very few at the reef. Most of them are close to shore. So enjoy your stay, swim with a partner, and be glad for nylons.
If you're interested in a lot more detail, check out the following sites: http://www.marine-medic.com.au/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Box_jellyfish
See you next time!
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