Cnidaria · cnidarians

Australian box jellyfish

Chironex fleckeri

Chirodropidae · many-tentacled box jelliesIUCN: Not evaluated
Australian box jellyfish
Photo: Guido Gautsch; derivative work by Mithril · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized

A nearly transparent box jelly with some of the most dangerous venom of any animal.

Fun factBox jellies have 24 eyes, and some of those eyes have lenses.

Waters
Indo-Pacific
Depth zone
Coastal shallows & estuaries
Diet
Shrimp & small fish
Size
Bell up to 30 cm; tentacles to 3 m

Classification

Cnidaria › Cubozoa › Chirodropidae

  1. Kingdom Animalia animals
    • Many-celled organisms that eat other living things for energy (heterotrophs)
    • Cells have no cell walls
    • Most can move at some stage of life
  2. Phylum Cnidaria cnidarians
    • Radially symmetric bodies with one opening that is both mouth and anus
    • Stinging cells (cnidocytes) fire tiny harpoons (nematocysts)
    • Two body forms: an attached polyp and a swimming bell (medusa)
  3. Class Cubozoa box jellyfish
    • Box jellies: bell is cube-shaped, with tentacles from each corner
    • Complex eyes, some with lenses, on four sense clubs
    • Fast, active swimmers with very potent venom
  4. Family Chirodropidae many-tentacled box jellies
    • Box jellies with several tentacles on each corner (on a branched base)
    • Includes the deadliest jellyfish
  5. Genus Chironex
    • Species in the same genus are very close relatives and often look alike.
  6. Species Chironex fleckeri Australian box jellyfish

Closest relatives in the guide