Children swimming off the coast of Australia's north should wear stinger suits all year round, after a little known species of box jellyfish was discovered near beaches during the supposedly safe season.
Suspected of belonging to the genus Chiropsalmus, the jellyfish is closely related to the deadly box jellyfish Chironex fleckeri. Although not lethal itself, stings by the new jellyfish do cause discomfort, and attack by several individuals could inflict serious poisoning in a child.
The December issue of the Australian Medical Journal reports that hundreds of the species have been netted at a beach in the Northern Territory town of Nhulunbuy, in Aboriginal lands of the Arhnem Land, between May and October - well outside the official stinger season.
Stinger season lasts from the October 1 to the June 1 each year, and swimmers are advised to avoid certain areas where they might be at risk of coming into contact with box jellyfish. There have been several anecdotal sightings of Chiropsalmus over the past 10 years, but this is the first time they have been netted in such numbers.
One of the authors, Professor Bart Currie from the Menzies School of Health Research at the Royal Darwin Hospital in the Northern Territory, said the appearance of the jellyfish in winter was unprecedented, and had implications for public health warnings.
"These jellyfish generally cause only mild pain and itching, but if several were to surround a child in the water, they could lead to a major envenoming," he wrote.
Currie said the better known and more deadly box jellyfish Chironex fleckeri has also been known to appear outside the official season. "There are deaths known from three of the four months between the end of the stinger season and the start of the next," he said.
Box jellyfish may also extend their range and season in the future, according to Currie. If global warming trends continue, we may see box jellyfish moving south and staying around for longer within the next 10 to 15 years, he added. http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2002/12/10/743824.htm
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