A novel tagging technique has uncovered some surprising information about jellyfish behaviour
If you spend any time at all in tropical Australia, especially in the water, you will know about box jellyfish. You will also know that they have a major effect on the way people use the water, that they are capable of killing humans within minutes, and that vinegar is the first aid treatment of choice.1 But did you know that they “sleep”? We certainly didn’t!
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- School of Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD.
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- 3. Hamner WM, Jones MS, Hamner PP. Swimming, feeding, circulation and vision in the Australian box jellyfish, Chironex fleckeri (Cnidaria: Cubozoa). Mar Freshw Res 1995; 46: 985-990.
- 4. Gordon MR. Ecophysiology of the tropical Australian chirodropid Chiropsalmus sp. BSc Honours Thesis. Cairns: James Cook University of North Queensland, 1998.