13 Days of Halloween: Five Deadly Sea Creatures
Filed under: Discovery,News & Resources
The Box Jellyfish
The Box Jellyfish
A listing of five very deadly inhabitants of the worlds oceans.
(From Scienceray / by Jesse Barnett)
1. The Box Jellyfish
The Box Jellyfish is a transparent blue color and square shaped, earning them their name. This Jellyfish sports up to as many as 15 tentacles protruding from every corner of its body. The Box Jellyfish pushes itself along in a pulsing motion and is known to travel at speeds up to 4 knots. The Box Jellyfish’s habitat primary consists of four locations, Australia, the Philippians, Hawaii, and Vietnam. This species of Jellyfish has the privilege of being known as the having the most deadly venom in the whole animal kingdom. The Box Jellyfish has been the cause of over 5,500 reported deaths since the 1950’s. The Box Jellyfish sting is very painful and can cause shock causing its victim to drown before being able to reach safety.
The Marbled Cone
2. The Marbled Cone Snail
The Marbled Cone
The Marbled Cone Snail can vary in color from black with white dots to orange with white patterns. The Marbled Cone Snail has a unique way of trapping it prey. When the snail locates a passing fish it shoots out a toxic harpoon and then reels its prey in. The venom of the Marbled Cone Snail is designed to paralyze its victim allowing the snail to feast at its leisure. The snail’s venom is a neurotoxin that causes coordination loss and weakness. Local pain, numbness, and swelling may occur in its victims. When stung by this snail your hearing, vision, and speech will be affected. In some case respiratory muscle paralysis has lead to death.
Blue-Ringed Octopus (Credit: Stephen Childs)
3. The Blue-Ringed Octopus
Blue-Ringed Octopus (Credit: Stephen Childs)
The Blue Ringed Octopus spends most of its time using its dermal cells to camouflage itself. Though hard to spot most of the time when disturbed this octopus turns a bright yellow color and displays blue rings on its body. The Blue Ringed Octopus is only the size of a golf ball but contains more than enough venom to kill a human. The Blue Ringed Octopus lives in tide pools that range from Japan to Australia. One of the things that leads to the deadly nature of this octopus is that there is no known antivenom for its bite. The Blue Ringed Octopus boasts a neurotoxin that causes body paralysis, respiratory arrest, and cardiac arrest due to lack of oxygen from the respiratory distress. A victim of a Blue Ringed Octopus bite must be given immediate artificial respiration until the toxin is flushed from the body, which can take many hours. Without proper medical treatment death will ensue in a matter of minutes.
Stonefish
4. The Stonefish
Stonefish
The Stonefish is typically mottled green to mostly brown in color and can commonly be found among reefs. The dorsal area of the Stonefish is lined with 13 spines that release venom from two sacs attached to each spine. The venom of the Stonefish consists of a hemolytic stonustoxin , the neurotoxic trachynilysin and the cardioactive cardioleputin. An antivenom is available but needs to be administered in the first few hours of the sting. The sting of the Stonefish is extremely painful and can cause tissue death, shock, and paralysis. The sting of this sea creature can be fatal and deaths have been attributed to them.
Yellow-bellied Sea Snake (Credit: Hal Cogger)
5. The Yellow-Bellied Sea Snake
Yellow-bellied Sea Snake (Credit: Hal Cogger)
The Yellow Bellied Sea Snake is black in color with a very prominent yellow contrast on its belly. It has a very pronounced paddle like tail used as a swimming aid. The Yellow Bellied Sea Snake though no where near the most venomous sea snake is worth a look just on its appearance alone. This snake spends most of it time floating in open ocean water most commonly near reefs. The venom of the Yellow Bellied Sea Snake is a neurotoxin and those bitten suffer from respiratory, heart, or kidney failure. Though not an aggressive snake bites have occurred most often when it is caught in fishing nets. This snake has caused several reported deaths.
