Mondo Knows Facts
Box jellyfish venom attacks the heart and nervous system
Their tentacles carry thousands of stinging cells that fire on contact The cells discharge harpoonlike threads under pressure, triggered by touch and chemistry. Some species cause severe reactions within minutes in swimmers. They can steer rather than simply drift, with a ring nerve and eyes. It sits in Mondo's animals collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
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Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
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More facts like this
The immortal jellyfish can revert its life cycle to polyp formTurritopsis dohrnii can revert from an adult medusa back to a young polyp.The blue-ringed octopus carries venom strong enough to kill humansA tiny blue-ringed octopus holds enough tetrodotoxin to paralyse 26 adults.The Gila monster is a venomous lizardVenom flows along grooved teeth rather than through a fangSome shrews hunt with venomous salivaA bite paralyses insects and small prey for later consumptionA blue ringed octopus flashes a warning before it bitesThe rings brighten when the animal is disturbedKomodo dragons kill prey using potent venom glandsKomodo dragon bite delivers anticoagulants that prevent blood clotting.
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Tags: jellyfish, venom, ocean
Box jellyfish venom attacks the heart and nervous system: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Their tentacles carry thousands of stinging cells that fire on contact. The figure is taken from Australian Museum, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a animals fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Animals shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.