Biology and Ecology of Irukandji Jellyfish (Cnidaria: Cubozoa)
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CHAPTER ONE Biology and Ecology of Irukandji Jellyfish (Cnidaria: Cubozoa) Lisa-ann Gershwin*,1, Anthony J. Richardson†,{, Kenneth D. Winkel}, Peter J. Fenner}, John Lippmann||, Russell Hore#, Griselda Avila- Soria**, David Brewer†, Rudy J. Kloser*, Andy Steven†, Scott Condie* *CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Castray Esplanade, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia †CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, EcoSciences Precinct, GPO Box 2583, Dutton Park 4001, Qld, Australia { Centre for Applications in Natural Resource Mathematics (CARM), School of Mathematics and Physics, University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4072, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia } Australian Venom Research Unit, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia } Occupational Health Mackay, PO Box 3080, North Mackay, Queensland, Australia ||Divers Alert Network Asia-Pacific, PO Box 384 (49A Karnak Road), Ashburton, Victoria, Australia #Reef Biosearch, Meridian Marina, Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia **James Cook University, 1 James Cook Dr Douglas, Townsville, Queensland, Australia 1Corresponding author: e-mail address: [email protected] Contents 1. Introduction 2 1.1 History of study 6 2. Biology of Irukandji 11 2.1 Taxonomy 11 2.2 Evolution 22 2.3 Reproduction and life cycle 24 2.4 Eyes and vision 30 2.5 Behaviour 34 3. Ecology of Irukandji 35 3.1 Diet and feeding 35 3.2 Geographic distribution 36 3.3 Vertical distribution 41 3.4 Temporal changes 44 3.5 Movements and aggregations 52 3.6 Environmental variables 57 4. Toxins 58 4.1 Which part of the animal is toxic? 64 4.2 Evolution of Irukandji toxins 65 5. Stinger Management 65 5.1 Prediction 66 5.2 Detection 67 5.3 Prevention 68 5.4 Treatment 68 # Advances in Marine Biology, Volume 66 2013 Elsevier Ltd 1 ISSN 0065-2881 All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-408096-6.00001-8 2 Lisa-ann Gershwin et al. 6. Research Gaps 69 Acknowledgements 71 Appendix A. Notes on Rearing and Life Cycle of Carukia barnesi 72 Appendix B. Notes on Australian Alatina mordens Occurrence 75 References 76 Abstract Irukandji stings are a leading occupational health and safety issue for marine industries in tropical Australia and an emerging problem elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean. Their mild initialsting frequently results indebilitatingillness,involving signsof sympathetic excess including excruciating pain, sweating, nausea and vomiting, hypertension and a feeling of impending doom; some cases also experience acute heart failure and pulmonary oedema.Thesejellyfisharetypicallysmallandnearlyinvisible,andtheir infestationsaregen- erally mysterious, making them scary to the general public, irresistible to the media, and disastrous for tourism. Research into these fascinating species has been largely driven by the medical profession and focused on treatment. Biological and ecological information is surprisingly sparse, and is scattered through grey literature or buried in dispersed pub- lications, hampering understanding. Given that long-term climate forecasts tend toward conditions favourable to jellyfish ecology, that long-term legal forecasts tend toward increasing duty-of-care obligations, and that bioprospecting opportunities exist in the powerfulIrukandjitoxins,thereisaclear needforinformationtohelpinformglobalresearch and robust management solutions. We synthesise and contextualise available information on Irukandji taxonomy, phylogeny, reproduction, vision, behaviour, feeding, distribution, seasonality, toxins, and safety. Despite Australia dominating the research in this area, there are probably well over 25 species worldwide that cause the syndrome and it is an under- studied problemin the developingworld. Major gaps inknowledge are identified for future research:our lackof clarityonthe socio-economic impacts,and our need fortimeseries and spatial surveys of the species, make this field particularly enticing. Keywords: Irukandji syndrome, Marine stingers, Envenomation, Jellyfish blooms, Carybdeida, Carukia, Malo, Morbakka, Gerongia, Alatina 1. INTRODUCTION Seemingly minor stings from certain species of jellyfish can result in a constellation of debilitating symptoms in human victims, which in turn result in high medical costs, closed beaches, negative publicity, fear in the recrea- tional public, and financial impacts for the tourism industry (see Box 1.1). These jellyfish, loosely grouped under the common name Irukandji, are understudied relative to their medical, financial, and social implications. Irukandji syndrome typically manifests as severe lower back and abdominal pain, relentless nausea and vomiting, full-body cramps and spasms, difficulty breathing, profuse sweating, anxiety, muscular restlessness, headaches, and a BOX 1.1 Why Irukandji research matters? Top: (A) Mild sting to chest resulting in full-blown Irukandji syndrome, note localised sweating (copyright S. Cohen). (B) Beach closed due to Irukandji. (C). Mild bell-shaped sting to bicep resulting in Irukandji syndrome (copyright B. Currie). (D) Five-year-old female, whose Irukandji sting required 3 days in inten- sive care (copyright J. Margaglione). Bottom: A sample of media headlines about Irukandji (from the collection of K. Moss). Irukandji jellyfish meet all the criteria for a Hollywood horror film: Many are the size of a peanut and invisible in water; their four tentacles are 100 times their body length and as thin as cobwebs; their mild sting is rarely noticed, but within half an hour, the victim’s whole body is in agony and experiencing a bizarre constellation of seemingly unrelated symptoms. Many victims require hospitalisation, some require life support and some die. And Irukandji occasionally infest the most pop- ular tropical beaches en masse. But consistent with the very best of Hitchcock, nobody has known when or where (or who) the danger will strike. These features make them downright scary and predictably attractive to the media. 4 Lisa-ann Gershwin et al. feeling of impending doom (Williamson et al., 1996). Many victims also expe- rience coughing and/or involuntary grunting, shivering and teeth chattering, a creepy skin feeling, and, in some cases, priapism (prolonged erection) in males. In some cases hypertension is severe and life-threatening: the highest reading published as part of a case history is 280/180 (Fenner and Carney, 1999), and readings >300 have also been reported (Gershwin et al., 2009). These cases of hypertension may lead to pulmonary oedema (fluid on the lungs) and, rarely, to cerebral haemorrhage (stroke). A small proportion of cases develop some form of acute cardiac failure (Fenner and Carney, 1999; Huynh et al., 2003; Macrokanis et al., 2004; Nickson et al., 2009) and some, as yet undefined number, may have ongoing or recurrent symptoms. Two people died in Australia in 2002 from complications arising from Irukandji syndrome (Fenner and Hadok, 2002; Huynh et al., 2003). Another fatality in 2012 and two more in 2013 are still under investigation for a potential Irukandji basis. However, the actual death toll is likely to be much higher. Often with little or no mark on the body and nothing to test for postmortem, the mechanism of death would be a heart attack, stroke, or drowning or could even mimic decompression illness, and the underlying cause may never be recognised (Gershwin et al., 2009). Some larger Irukandji species, such as Morbakka prevalent in the Gulf of Thailand, can cause immediate severe pain and large weals prior to the onset of systemic symptoms and possible death (DAN AP Case reports; Fenner and Lippmann, 2009; Fenner et al., 2010). Although Irukandji are largely (but not entirely) unknown in temperate regions, in the tropics, the scale of the problem extends far beyond the med- ical effects. A conservative estimate placed the losses to the tourism industry due to negative publicity at more than $65 million in 2002 (Williams, 2004). Stings from Irukandji are considered the number one occupational health and safety issue for Australia’s tropical lobster fishery, pearling industry, and beˆche-de-mer fishery (Gershwin et al., 2009). Industrial downtime, as either the result of stings or the threat of stings, has impacted the Australian Navy, the oil and gas industry, and quite likely many other industries where personnel come in contact with tropical waters. One of the most unusual features of the Irukandji story, however, is that despite their danger to humans, the problem is poorly acknowledged globally and has received little attention from biologists and ecologists. Indeed, much of what we know about these animals beyond their medical effects is based on conjecture or scant anecdotal evidence, and even the Biology and Ecology of Irukandji Jellyfish 5 World Health Organization failed to recognise the hazard in their 2003 and 2009 Guidelines for Safe Recreational Water Environments (WHO, 2003, 2009). Even in regions with dozens of hospitalisations per year and decades of awareness programmes, the high number of stings suggests that the safety message is often ignored (Gershwin et al., 2009; Sando et al., 2010). Progress in research and management is compromised by our fragmented understanding of these species. For example, most of the literature has focused on envenomation and was published primarily in medical journals. Taxonomic information has largely appeared in taxonomic journals. Biolog- ical and ecological information is scattered through the pages of medical and taxonomic works or has appeared in grey literature.