THE BOX JELLYFISH

WHEN AND WHERE

• This jellyfish is in Australia's northern oceans.
• They are there all year round,but during wet season which is through November to April they appear most often.

FACTS

• The box jellyfish are not true jellyfish
• They belong in a group called the cubozoa.
• They are the second largest jellyfish out there.
• The nick names for the box jellyfish are marine stinger and sea wasp.

MORE FACTS

• They can be many sizes which makes them even more deadly because they can be the size of a thumbnail and kill someone.
• The body is in the shape of a box which has 15 tentacles on each corner.
• The stingers do not just sting because of touch but of the chemicals that are in people's skin.

WHAT MAKES IT EVEN MORE DEADLY

• Box jellyfish have transparent and pale blue which makes it invisible in the ocean.
• For many years people did not know what was injuring or killing people.
• It moves by shooting it's self forward like a jet and it moves 2 meters per second.
• The box jellyfish has eyes which other jellyfish do not. They have eyes on each side of their box like sides and scientist don't even know how they see because they don't have a central nervous system.
• There has been 63 deaths in Australia since 1884

HABITAT, LIFE, FOOD

• They live off of northern Australia, near new Guiana, Philippines, and Vietnam.
• They like to hang around River mouths and creeks. They lay their eggs at the river mouth and when they hatch they are called polyps which they stay on rocks until spring. Then they go into the ocean.
• Box jellyfish eat small fish and crustaceans
• The box jellyfish's top is so soft that the things that it try's to eat will most likely tear it apart so it has to sting it really fast.

THE STING AND VENOM

• The stinger has not only one type of venom but three. One called cardio toxic venom which effects the heart. Second one is neurotoxic venom which damages the nerves. The last one is dermatonecrotic which melts the skin.

MORE FACTS ABOUT THE STING

• If at least three meters of a tentacle touches you it can be fatal.
• If not the victim will most likely go into cardiac arrest in minutes. If that does not happen the sting is so over whelming the victim can also go into shock.
• The only treatment of the sting is vinegar and there is no cure.
• The sting is usually not the reason why people die to it. It is mostly people drowning because of the shock you go into