SEA WASP

The Sea Wasp, scientific name Chironex fleckeri, is a jellyfish and is the most poisonous water in the whole world.
It has been documented in northern Australia and in the tropical waters of New Guinea, Brunei, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam. The best period to see the Sea Wasp is on summer, especially close to sandy beaches and estuaries of rivers where it goes to reproduce. It's a fast swimmer, relatively large sized, with dangerous tentacles that can exceed three meters in length.
An adult can reaches the size of a basketball, is almost transparent from each of the four corners of the bell trails a cluster of 15 tentacles (60 tentacles in total). When swimming the tentacles contract and reach a length of 15 cm, but if they are hunting, the tentacles are thin and stretch. Each tentacle is covered by tens of thousands microscopic nematocysts, cells venom, which are activated by the pressure and by a chemical trigger.
Unlike most of the jellyfish that are blind and are carried away by the currents, the sea wasp has 4 sensory structures, called "ropali". These are located in niches at the base of the bell of the jellyfish and represent the eyes, with real retinas, corneas, lenses ...
However they do not have a brain, so you are still unable to explain how they can process the images created by ropali, therefore it is assumed that there is a widespread nervous system.

The Chironex fleckeri produces an extremely powerful and fast-acting poison, harmful and potentially fatal to humans, lethal to the prey. The contact with the tentacles of jellyfish activates the explosive discharge of nematocysts that injects venom. The effects can be localized or systemic including pain, inflammation, necrosis, hypertension followed by hypotension, cardiovascular collapse and cardiac arrest. A number of bioactive fractions have been isolated from this venom, however, a few individual toxins have been identified unequivocally.
The nematocysts are composed of toxins, collagen, protein Dickkopf-3. The proteins most commonly identified were of a structural nature, reflecting the composition of the capsule, mainly date from mini-collagen. For the detection of structural proteins of C. fleckeri was used Dithiothreitol, a strong reducing agent, which disintegrates partially the capsule of nematocysts causing the release of poison.
The venom of Chironex is a complex mixture of polypeptides and proteins including catecholamine, histamine, hyaluronidase, fibrinolysis, quinine, phospholipase, and various other toxins.
The LD50 is equal to 0.004 mg / kg, in absolute value lower (therefore more lethal) registered in venomous animals. It’s 80 times more powerful than the venom of a Black Mamba.
In cubozoans, toxins are associated with a potent hemolytic activity, as well as inflammatory and destructive. The poison has cardiotoxic and necrotizing effects, mainly affecting the skin. A puncture immediately causes intense and localized pain. Suddendly bruised and white areas appear at the point where the tentacles affect the skin, accompanied by red lines (similar to signs of whip). The skin necrosis that is established at a later time can lead to permanent scarring. In 60% of cases occur a few days after an itchy rash irregular, defined as "delayed reaction". This usually resolves in about ten days, but sometimes it can persist for weeks. From the point of view of the symptomatology, the annoyance given by itching can be alleviated with the use of antihistamines and topical steroids, obviously in the absence of necrotic areas. In this case, the treatment includes a meticulous care and disinfection of areas, with tissue healing by second intention. A heavy dose of poison can cause heart problems, resulting in loss of consciousness and cardiac arrest. Death may occurs even after only 5 minutes from the puncture. Children are most at risk because of their reduced body mass.
The mechanism of action of this poison is not well known. It is, as already said, one of the faster and more powerful animal toxins known in the world. The first experiments on animals have shown the hemolytic activity, myotoxic, necrotizing and lethal. In fact the man haemolytic effect has not yet been demonstrated, but you have skin damage and death quickly. The necrotizing action of the venom can result in the release of leukotrienes and other arachidonic acid derivatives, in addition to direct tissue damage. Following poisoning have often been recorded important arrhythmias, which support a primary role in the effect cardiotoxic. Animal studies also suggest a role cardiotoxic including impaired cardiac contractility, hypotension and hypertension, arrhythmias, conduction blocks and ventricular tachycardia with decreased coronary flow.
Studies have also suggested that the toxin can cause abnormalities in ion transport through membranes, in particular the toxins induce the influx of Na + into the cell. The sodium increase in intracellular causes an increase of intracellular Ca2 + through exchange mechanism Na + / Ca2 +, thus producing an overload of Ca2 +. This process involves different muscle tissues, both skeletal smooth, thus also including the heart muscle.
The best prevention is to stay out of the water especially in the season when these jellyfish are present. For entry into the water is recommended to use protective clothing of any kind. Even a very thin clothing will be sufficient to provide protection, provided that there are no gaps or exposed skin.
In case of puncture, early intervention is of fundamental importance, especially in the case where it is necessary cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The rescue operations can be summarized by a scheme for points:
* Remove the patient from the water and dry
* Immediately call for help
* Assess the condition and start the protocol resuscitation if necessary
* Do not wash the affected areas with cool water, but rinse thoroughly with vinegar, which neutralizes the invisible organelles that release the poison
*If there is no vinegar to try to clean the skin better, even with hands, having a thicker skin than the other areas, are more resistant
There is an antidote to the venom of C. fleckeri. After emergency treatment, this should be immediately administered. Unfortunately, its venom is so powerful that people affected by massive doses of the drug die before inoculation.
Currently available treatments to counteract the toxic effects are scarce. For example, after contact with the poison was observed the increase of the entrance of calcium in heart’s cells, triggering factor arrest cardiovascular, therefore it has been proposed the use of a calcium channel blocker. However, drugs with this action does not impede the flow of calcium and therefore not stop the cardiovascular collapse, indeed may exacerbate hypotension with counterproductive effect.

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