JELLYFISH STINGS: COMPLICATIONS AND MANAGEMENT

Abstract

Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certaingelatinous members of subphylum Medusozoa, the majority of phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish aremainly free-swimming marine animals with umbrella-shaped bells and trailing tentacles, althougha few are not mobile, being anchored to the seabed by stalks. The bell can pulsate to givepropulsion and highly efficient locomotion. Tentacles are armed with stinging cells and may beused to capture prey and defend against predators. Jellyfish have a complex life cycle; the medusais normally the sexual phase, the planula larva can disperse widely and is followed by a sedentarypolyp phase.Jellyfish are found worldwide, from surface waters to the deep sea. Scyphozoans (true jellyfish)are exclusively marine, but some hydrozoans with a similar appearance live in freshwater.Large, often colorful, jellyfish are common in coastal zones worldwide. The medusae of mostspecies are fast growing, mature within a few months and die soon after breeding, but the polyp stage, attached to the seabed, may be much more long-lived. Jellyfish have been in existence forat least 500 million years, and possibly 700 million years or more, making them the oldest multiorgananimal group. They are eaten by humans in certain cultures, being considered a delicacyin some Asian countries, where species in the Rhizostomae order are pressed and salted to removeexcess water. They are also used in research, where the green fluorescent protein, used bysome species to cause bioluminescence, has been adapted as a fluorescent marker for genes insertedinto other cells or organisms. Stinging cells used by jellyfish to subdue their prey can alsoinjure them. Many thousands of swimmers are stung every year, with effects ranging from milddiscomfort to serious injury or even death; small box jellyfish are responsible for many deaths.