Toxic Creatures: The Box Jellyfish

Toxic Creatures: The Box Jellyfish — page 1 — Jellyfish are free-swimming invertebrates with stinging tentacles

Toxic Creatures: The Box Jellyfish — page 2 — Advanced Jellyfish Box jellyfish are a type of marine animal They are known for their cube-shaped bodies and their deadly stings Some species of box jellyfish are only mildly toxic Others can stop an adult human’s heart within a few minutes Jellyfish are invertebrates This means they do not have a backbone Their bodies are called the bell Tentacles hang under the bell Jellyfish evolved at least five hundred million years ago There are AdvAnced JeLLyfiSh 5 CHAPTER ONE

Toxic Creatures: The Box Jellyfish — page 3 — Jellyfish are related to sea anemones You can see some similarities in their bodies jellyfish in salt water and freshwater Most are in salt water They are related to sea anemones and corals Box jellies are named for their cube-shaped bodies One or several tentacles hang from each of the four corners In the center of the bell on the underside is a shape like a hose It has a mouth on the end of it 6 The BOX JeLLyfiSh

Toxic Creatures: The Box Jellyfish — page 4 — Box jellyfish are among the most advanced jellies All jellyfish move with the currents of the water They also move by taking water into their bell and then squeezing the bell This is called pulsing Box jellies have a bell that makes extra force when it pulses They can move very fast for a jellyfish They can swim as fast as 4 6 miles per hour 7 4 kilometers per hour Box jellyfish have sophisticated eyes unlike most species of jellyfish AdvAnced JeLLyfiSh 7

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