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Irukandji Jellyfish — printable fact sheet
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Irukandji Jellyfish
Carukia barnesi
The Irukandji jellyfish, chiefly Carukia barnesi, is a box jellyfish the size of a fingernail - the bell is about a centimetre - with four thin tentacles, and it is nearly invisible in water. Its sting is often barely felt at the time. Then, 20 to 40 minutes later, comes Irukand…
Did you know?
- The Irukandji Jellyfish was not scientifically described until 1964, after a researcher deliberately stung himself to prove its existence.
- Irukandji have eyes - box jellyfish carry clusters of them, including image-forming lensed eyes - despite having no brain, only a nerve ring. Deaths are rare but confirmed, and two tourists died from Irukandji syndrome in Australia in 2002, prompting far more serious public health attention. Barnes's self-experiment would be unthinkable under modern ethics rules but settled the question of causation immediately.
What I learned
Draw the irukandji jellyfish
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