Irukandji jellyfish are tiny and extremely venomous jellyfish that inhabit marine waters of Australia and which are able to fire their stingers into their victim, causing symptoms collectively known as Irukandji syndrome. Its size is roughly no larger than a cubic centimetre (1 cm3). There are two known species of Irukandji: Carukia barnesi and the recently discovered Malo kingi.The symptoms of Irukandji syndrome were first documented by Hugo Flecker in 1952 and named after the Irukandji people whose country stretches along the coastal strip north of Cairns, Queensland. The first of these jellyfish, Carukia barnesi, was identified in 1964 by Jack Barnes; in order to prove it was the cause of Irukandji syndrome, he captured the tiny jelly and allowed it to sting himself while his son and a lifeguard observed the effects. The average jellyfish has stingers only on its tentacles but the Irukandji also has stingers on its bellpiece. Biologists have yet to discover the purpose of this unique characteristic. The hypothesis is that the feature enables the jellyfish to be more likely to catch its prey of small fish.Irukandji jellyfish differ from other box jellyfish species in that they have the ability to fire stingers from the tips and inject venom. Currently, it is not known whether this is for some special purpose.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 06:08:11 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015