You continue to be mistaken. Being in the same family does NOT mean they are as lethal. And, they are NOT in the same family.
Box Jellyfish, Pygmy Killer Whales, Reef Surveys - Bonaire
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OP
adiverslife
Contributor
drrich2
Contributor
It's my understanding it's a set period after the full moon when they tend to come in. From an old 2014 Stinapa Bonaire Facebook post:
"Alatina box jellyfish - Tomoya Ohboya!
Eight to ten days after the full moon box jelly fish swarm into the shallower waters to spawn. Their sting is very painful.
There was a bad jellyfish sting last night during a late night dive at Salt Pier. The divers saw several Alatina in the water during the dive. One diver was stung swimming back.
Please be aware of the banded box jellyfish and watch out when you're in the water after dark around 8 to 10 days after the full moon."
On a prior trip to Bonaire, I did a night dive at Buddy Dive Resort and got nailed on my right hand and smaller hits on my legs. Alarmingly painful, felt like a cross between getting cut and getting burned, and it lingered quite awhile. No tears, no screams, and I conducted my dive. Only saw them shallow near the pier. On my exit, assisted by people who'd become aware of them and helped me exit up out of the water fast (thankfully with no more stings), I learned a 'girl' (I don't know how told) went to the hospital earlier for stings.
I didn't have any noticeable systemic symptoms, just pain at the sting sights, with modest redness later that faded over time.
To me, the bell looked cuboidal, about the size of a Ziplock sandwich bag, and there appeared to be one tentacle descending from each bottom corner, for a total of 4.
"Alatina box jellyfish - Tomoya Ohboya!
Eight to ten days after the full moon box jelly fish swarm into the shallower waters to spawn. Their sting is very painful.
There was a bad jellyfish sting last night during a late night dive at Salt Pier. The divers saw several Alatina in the water during the dive. One diver was stung swimming back.
Please be aware of the banded box jellyfish and watch out when you're in the water after dark around 8 to 10 days after the full moon."
On a prior trip to Bonaire, I did a night dive at Buddy Dive Resort and got nailed on my right hand and smaller hits on my legs. Alarmingly painful, felt like a cross between getting cut and getting burned, and it lingered quite awhile. No tears, no screams, and I conducted my dive. Only saw them shallow near the pier. On my exit, assisted by people who'd become aware of them and helped me exit up out of the water fast (thankfully with no more stings), I learned a 'girl' (I don't know how told) went to the hospital earlier for stings.
I didn't have any noticeable systemic symptoms, just pain at the sting sights, with modest redness later that faded over time.
To me, the bell looked cuboidal, about the size of a Ziplock sandwich bag, and there appeared to be one tentacle descending from each bottom corner, for a total of 4.
We saw one when we were diving the airport fuel dock one night last February, just shy of three weeks after the full moon. Richard's description is apt. No close encounters, thankfully, but the full-moon correlation is a guideline, not a rule.
We were in Australia awhile back and met a diver who told us that she had survived a blue box jelly sting. Like dmaziuk said--pretty awful: As the tale went, she was put in an induced coma and was still screaming in pain. That animal is Chironex fleckeri, and its literally-unparalleled toxicity is discussed in, e.g., this article from the University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web. Dozens of fatalities have resulted from encounters with it, and we saw Australian beaches with massive nets to create swimming areas free of C. fleckeri. They are the largest box jelly, and can sport tentacles of up to 3m/10' long, and are in the family Chirodropidae. (I thinkmaybe all box jellies are in the same class, Cubozoa?)
The Bonaire animal, Tamoya ohboya, is of the Carybdeida family Tamoyidae. The three Hawaiian box-jelly species, according to the Waikiki Aquarium, are all members of the family Carybdea. (All four species, as well as C. fleckeri, are in the same class, Cubuzoa). The Cubuzoans reportedly do not have anywhere near the toxicity of C. fleckeri.
Bonaire and the Hawaiian islands do, however, apparently share closely-related species of box jelly; in Bonaire, Alatina alata, which has global distribution, and in Hawaii, Alatina moseri. The animals in Rich's terrific video appear to me to be clearly identifiable as A. alata, rather than T. oboya.
I say this because the Bonaire banded box jellyfish is so-called because it has bands, or stripes, on its tentacles, which alternate brown and white. The box jellies in the video do not have the bands, and so I think it must be A. alata (as as, I think, the one we saw last winter). Comparison with the Wikipedia photo of A. alata, which actually comes from Bonaire, makes the identification pretty simple; perhaps it also explains the professor's opinion.
(Be gentle with me as you denibstrate my ignorance, folks)
We were in Australia awhile back and met a diver who told us that she had survived a blue box jelly sting. Like dmaziuk said--pretty awful: As the tale went, she was put in an induced coma and was still screaming in pain. That animal is Chironex fleckeri, and its literally-unparalleled toxicity is discussed in, e.g., this article from the University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web. Dozens of fatalities have resulted from encounters with it, and we saw Australian beaches with massive nets to create swimming areas free of C. fleckeri. They are the largest box jelly, and can sport tentacles of up to 3m/10' long, and are in the family Chirodropidae. (I thinkmaybe all box jellies are in the same class, Cubozoa?)
The Bonaire animal, Tamoya ohboya, is of the Carybdeida family Tamoyidae. The three Hawaiian box-jelly species, according to the Waikiki Aquarium, are all members of the family Carybdea. (All four species, as well as C. fleckeri, are in the same class, Cubuzoa). The Cubuzoans reportedly do not have anywhere near the toxicity of C. fleckeri.
Bonaire and the Hawaiian islands do, however, apparently share closely-related species of box jelly; in Bonaire, Alatina alata, which has global distribution, and in Hawaii, Alatina moseri. The animals in Rich's terrific video appear to me to be clearly identifiable as A. alata, rather than T. oboya.
I say this because the Bonaire banded box jellyfish is so-called because it has bands, or stripes, on its tentacles, which alternate brown and white. The box jellies in the video do not have the bands, and so I think it must be A. alata (as as, I think, the one we saw last winter). Comparison with the Wikipedia photo of A. alata, which actually comes from Bonaire, makes the identification pretty simple; perhaps it also explains the professor's opinion.
(Be gentle with me as you denibstrate my ignorance, folks)
OP
adiverslife
Contributor
Jmciver77
Registered
I lived in Hawaii for 18 months, and it was common knowledge as to the phases of the moon correlating with the Box Jellies appearance. I never encountered one personally, although we always dealt with the small “man-o-war” type on the windward side of Oahu at times.
