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Meet the Irukandji Jellyfish, a really tiny but dangerous and fatal Jellyfish. This one cubic centimeter jellyfish is found in the ocean waters around Australia, inducing a condition known as Irukandji syndrome. Two different types of Irukandji Jellyfish exist, Carukia Barnesi and Malo Kingi. Irukandji syndrome was first documented in 1952 by Hugo Flecker, named after the Irukandkji people who inhabit the coast just north of Cairns, in Queensland. The first species of Irukandji Jellyfish, Carukia Barnesi was identified by Dr. Jack Barnes in 1964. Wanting to prove that this jellyfish had caused these symptoms, Dr Barnes stung himself by it along with his son and a local life guard.

The Irukandji jellyfish is tiny with it’s bell being 1 cubic centimeter and tentacles, covered with clumps of stingers ranging from 2 – 35 centimeters. Due to the Irukandji’s small size, it is very difficult to keep in a lab therefor little research has been done. One of the more interesting features of this Jellyfish is the stingers attached to the bell, which is unusual for Jellyfish. The venom of the Irukandji is incredibly powerful, over one hundred times more powerful then a cobra and over a thousand times more powerful then a tarantula. It is known to disable small prey at lighting speed.

Unlike normal jellyfish that have stingers only on their tentacles, the Irukandji also has stingers at the end of its bell. Imagine a long sock that has been turned inside out and is coiled along the lines of a spring. On the stingers being triggered, they are pulled the right side out and uncoil in a flash and launch themselves straight into the flesh of any predator that touches the jellyfish. Microscopic stingers, in the millions, then release venom along the length. When the wounded predator pulls itself away, the stingers are ripped off from the jellyfish’s tentacles and remain buried in the predator’s body. One of the things that distinguish the Irukandji Jellyfish from other jellyfish is that it can fire stingers from its tips to inject the venom. There is no known reason yet for this unique phenomenon.

Symptoms of Irukandji Syndrome can including burning sensation at the area of contact, nausea, headaches, vomiting, drop in blood pressure and heart rate, sweating , intense and severely painful muscle cramps in the legs and arms as well as pain in the back and kidneys. Divers beware, the Irukandji Jellyfish!

The symptoms on an Irukandji sting come about in 4 to 30 hours, but may take up to two weeks to resolve completely. There is no known anti-venom and pain management is the treatment for this painful condition. Patients have been known to ask the doctor to kill them as they pain is so intense. Your best strategy to avoid this is to avoid the Irukandji. Be mindful where you are swimming and diving and of the seasons and water conditions for swimmers beware, the Irukandji Jellyfish!

Do you know all you need to handle the Irukandji Jellyfish, including how to deal with a Jellyfish Sting? Visit JellyfishFacts.Net to learn more about Jellyfish and Jellyfish Safety.

In Japan and other countries in the world, jellyfish facts are that it is considered a delicacy. This is the reason for the development and growth of dried jellyfish market. Drying it is important to prevent it from rotting. If it is left wet, it will take it a little while to go bad, usually in a few hours, but when dried it can be available for many weeks.

In relation to other species in the fish family, their feeding habit is very different. It normally stings a prey and after the prey is paralyzed, it uses its tentacles to bring the food into its mouth. Although there is no specific prey that can be associated to jellyfish, the most often used prey includes small fish and aquatic planktons although this depends on the size of the species in question. Humans are the worst enemies of this creature. The stinger serves the purpose of keeping off enemies as well as stinging them.

Another one of these jellyfish facts is that they lack brains but they can still process stimuli from food and danger. This is made possible because of the nerve cells in its system. It doesn’t have a heart, eyes and bones. However, they can detect some sight related stimuli without using real eyes and how this is interpreted is just a mystery.

Water content in their bodies is about 95% of other components in the system. Similarly, it is considered as the oldest marine creature for having existed since 650 million years ago. Sharks and dinosaurs came years later. Being aquatic marine creatures, jellyfish facts say that they are found virtually in all seas and oceans of the world. By living in fresh water, that species is considered untrue. A unique species called sea wasp or box jellyfish eat are responsible for death of many humans than other animals in water. The biggest one measures about 2.5 meters equivalent to eight feet.

Jellyfish facts say that it can grow to a length equivalent a half of the length of a football field. The longest ever recorded measured about 120 feet. It undergoes a lifecycle in three phases. The first phase has the larva called planula. This then attaches itself to a surface to grow into a polyp. The polyp undergoes differentiation and becomes a medusa. The different phases enable it to reproduce both sexually and asexually.

Do you like Jellyfish? Find out more about different jellyfish species at JellyfishFacts.Net and don’t miss our collection of jelly fish facts.

The Lion’s Mane Jellyfish is a massive creature. The largest recorded Lion’s Mane is 7 feet, 6 inches long with 120 foot tentacles is even longer then a blue whale. It is very common to see Lion’s Mane Jellyfish as large as household freezers. With it’s long tentacles, the Lion’s Mane Jellyfish is perhaps longest animal on earth.

The Lion’s mane jellyfish prefers the cold waters of the North Atlantic, Arctic and North Pacific oceans but similar jellyfish to the Lion’s Mange can be found just outside the waters of New Zealand and Australia. It is curious in that they are rarely found south of 42 degrees north latitude.

Although the Lion’s Mane jellyfish has been known to reach a bell-shaped diameter of even 7 feet, its sizes can vary. Some of them, found in lower latitudes are a fair amount smaller than their counterparts in the north. The tentacles of the really large specimens can be as long as 90 feet, or even longer. These tentacles are sticky and are grouped in clusters of eight, and each cluster contains more than 100 tentacles, all arranged in series of rows. In spite of its size, the Lion’s Mane jellyfish is not considered too dangerous. Its sting isn’t fatal and tends to cause only localized redness and temporary pain.

The bell shaped body of the Lion’s Mane jellyfish has eight divisions, or lobes, that make it look like an eight pointed star. A complicated arrangement of its colorful arms radiate from the bell’s center which are shorter than the thinner tentacles which come out of the bell’s subumbrella. Size has a lot to do with the colors of the Lion’s Mane jellyfish – smaller specimens tend to be a light orange or tan, while the larger specimens range from a bright crimson to a darker purple.

The Lion Mane survives mostly on a diet of moon jellies, small fish, zoo plankton and ctenophores. Despite the large size, they still have predators which include sea turtles, sea birds, larger fish and other jellyfish. The Lion’s mane is a coldwater species which can not tolerate warmer waters. They live for about one year and prefer shallow, sheltered bays at the end of their days. An interesting fact about the Lion’s Mane is that a small ecosystem forms around them. Other marine life such as Shrimps, butter fish, harvest fish and other species treat it as a giant floating oasis, surviving from the shelter and benefits the Lion’s Mane provides.

Interested in Jellyfish? Find out more about different jellyfish species at JellyfishFacts.Net and don’t miss our collection of Jellyfish Pictures.