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Jellyfish snot can sting swimmers who never touch the animal | Science News
Mucus from jellyfish that sit upside-down on the seafloor has blobs lined with stinging cells
A species known as the upside-down jellyfish (Cassiopea xamachana) can sting other creatures without ever making direct contact. Instead, the jellyfish releases mucus filled with clusters of stinging cells typically found on jellyfish tentacles, researchers report February 13 in Communications Biology. The study provides the first explanation for why handling or swimming near upside-down jellyfish can cause a prickling or burning sensation (SN: 9/1/15).
The stinging cells are coated on tiny mobile blobs called cassiosomes within the mucus that “zoom around like a Roomba zapping brine shrimp” in a lab dish, says Cheryl Ames, a marine biologist at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. When brine shrimp came into contact with a cassiosome, the shrimp were quickly paralyzed and killed.
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Swimmers who feel “stinging water” near mangrove forests may be getting zapped by jellyfish snot. Avoid mangrove forests for swimming.
Mucus from jellyfish that sit upside-down on the seafloor has blobs lined with stinging cells
A species known as the upside-down jellyfish (Cassiopea xamachana) can sting other creatures without ever making direct contact. Instead, the jellyfish releases mucus filled with clusters of stinging cells typically found on jellyfish tentacles, researchers report February 13 in Communications Biology. The study provides the first explanation for why handling or swimming near upside-down jellyfish can cause a prickling or burning sensation (SN: 9/1/15).
The stinging cells are coated on tiny mobile blobs called cassiosomes within the mucus that “zoom around like a Roomba zapping brine shrimp” in a lab dish, says Cheryl Ames, a marine biologist at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan. When brine shrimp came into contact with a cassiosome, the shrimp were quickly paralyzed and killed.
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Swimmers who feel “stinging water” near mangrove forests may be getting zapped by jellyfish snot. Avoid mangrove forests for swimming.
