Carybdea murrayana

Carybdea murrayana, the South African box jellyfish, is a venomous species of cnidarian, in the small family Carybdeidae within the class Cubozoa.

Carybdea murrayana
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Cnidaria
Class:	Cubozoa
Order:	Carybdeida
Family:	Carybdeidae
Genus:	Carybdea
Species:	C. murrayana
Binomial name
Carybdea murrayana Haeckel, 1880[1]
Synonyms
Carybdea branchi Gershwin & Gibbons, 2009

Description

This small box jellyfish grows up to 7 cm (2.8 in) across and may have tentacles of up to 2 m (6.6 ft) in total length. It has a transparent box-shaped bell with a very long tentacle trailing from each corner.^[2]

The animal is described as being robust and having a well sculpted in particular, single rooted with multiple stems,^{[clarification needed]} velarial canals 2 per octant, pedalia knee bend upwards turned volcano shaped. Also known to have a brownish pigmentation of the phacellae and pedalia. ^[3]

Distribution

This jellyfish is found from the north of Namibia around the South African coast to Port Elizabeth from the surface to a depth of at least 35 m (115 ft) underwater.

Ecology

This jellyfish is often seen in swarms. The tentacles have a painful sting, although the sting is not known to be fatal. It is eaten by the sunfishes, Mola mola^[4] and Mola ramsayi, as well as the slender sunfish, Ranzania laevis.