If you see these creatures on the beach, don't touch them!

During the hot summer, many people like to go to the beach to catch seafood or travel, and they will inevitably try some sea activities, such as surfing and diving.

You also have to pay attention to safety in the sea. Not only should you be careful of sharks, but you should also be wary of some poisonous creatures!

Rain of poison needles - jellyfish

Jellyfish are both despised and valued. They are despised because they are coelenterates, much lower than us humans in structure, and more than 90% of their bodies are water.

It is taken seriously because although this creature is low-level, it has lived on Earth much earlier than humans (the earliest can be traced back to the Cambrian period); although most of its body is water, the tiny part that is not water is a deadly poison to humans.

【Deadly trick】

The epithelial muscle cells of jellyfish have been specialized over a long period of time and are called "stinging cells". The nucleus is located at the base of the cell, but there is a "stinging needle" at the top of the cell, which is why the stinging cell is named so.

The stinger is connected to the nematocyst containing venom and extends out of the body surface. In the body of a jellyfish, there are at least millions of stinging cells like this, which means it has millions of venomous stingers, ready to attack the enemy, like a rainstorm. The toxins contained in the nematocyst of a jellyfish are mainly certain proteins, and there are also some low-molecular compounds. Once they come into contact with the human body, they have terrible lethality such as hemolysis and local skin necrosis.

【Response to infection】

After being stung by a jellyfish, the wound will generally show symptoms such as fever and pain in mild cases, macules will appear around the wound in severe cases, and in more serious cases, the skin will be necrotic.

At the same time, the injured will develop complications of varying severity. Mild cases will include headaches, chills, chest tightness, and muscle aches all over the body; severe cases will experience throat edema and bronchial spasms, leading to respiratory failure and eventual death.

【Method to break the move】

From a preventive perspective, most jellyfish are transparent and float like ghosts, making them difficult to spot in the sea. Therefore, if we see unidentified transparent objects in the sea, we should not grab them at will.

If you are stung by a jellyfish, you should clean the jellyfish tentacles off your body as soon as possible, apply diluted ammonia or alkaline solutions such as alcohol to the wound, and seek medical attention immediately.

Invisible fangs - sea snakes

This sea snake is not that sea snake. When snakes first went to the sea in the Cretaceous period, they were like pythons and anacondas, and they relied entirely on their strength to strangle. After they disappeared, in the Miocene period, the highly poisonous cobras on land went to the sea again, creating today's "poisonous dragon" in the blue waves - the sea snake.

But somehow, since going to the sea, sea snakes are no longer as irritable as their relatives on land. They swim freely in the sea like a gentle beauty. But don't forget, they are still poisonous beauties!

【Deadly trick】

Sea snakes belong to the family Cobra, and therefore are also venomous snakes of the anterior grooved fang family. These venomous snakes have a pair of extremely small, grooved fangs in their upper jaws, which are usually closed and hidden in the mouth. They are also small, so they are difficult to detect. However, the venom contained in the grooved fangs is often more deadly than that in the tube fangs.

The venom of sea snakes is far more toxic than that of all venomous snakes on land. Its venom is mainly neurotoxin, which can block the transmission function of the neuromuscular junction of skeletal muscle. The poisoned person will suffocate to death due to paralysis of the respiratory muscles.

【Response to infection】

The scary thing is that the symptoms after being bitten by a sea snake are very mild, with no swelling or pain, and a vague numbness that is easy to be ignored. But within 1-2 hours, muscle paralysis will occur, manifested as muscle pain all over the body, numbness of the limbs, difficulty opening the mouth, clenched teeth, shortness of breath, and finally death from suffocation.

【Method to break the move】

As mentioned before, sea snakes are relatively docile and will generally avoid humans when they encounter them, so please do not try to provoke them (there is a folk saying: Don't touch snakes, and snakes won't bite your hands).

If you are bitten by a sea snake, you should avoid running away in panic, which will accelerate the absorption of venom. Use an inhaler syringe to expel the venom, tie a pressure band around the wound to prevent the venom from being inhaled, and rush to the doctor.

The Poisonous Lone Sword - Stingray

If we were to select the top ten most dangerous creatures in the ocean, some might say great white sharks, others killer whales, and some might even think of giant cephalopods in the deep sea, such as the giant squid. However, there is a kind of creature called stingray, which is not very attractive in appearance, but is considered one of the most dangerous animals in the sea.

Let's take a look at a set of stingray injuries from ancient times to modern times, from myth to reality, and you will probably know how dangerous this creature is:

(1) Odysseus, a famous hero in ancient Greek mythology, lost his life because of a stingray;

(2) In 2006, Steve Irwin, a famous Australian wilderness survivalist known as the "Crocodile Hunter," was accidentally stabbed in the chest by a stingray while filming underwater. The stingray injured his heart and he eventually died.

(3) In July 2018, stingrays appeared in some shallow waters of Jersey, UK. British experts issued a serious warning that stingrays are dangerous and people should not swim in the water at this time!

【Deadly trick】

The body length of an adult stingray is about 1.5 meters. The tip of its long spine has a terrible barb that can inject venom. Compared with the previous poison kings, the venom of the stingray is not very deadly, but it can cause great pain to people. This is mainly because the neurotransmitter serotonin contained in its toxin can cause the human body's muscles to contract violently.

However, the deadly effect of stingrays is not the venom, but the barbs! If you are hit by its sharp tail barb, it will cause greater damage when the barb is pulled out. If it hits the chest or abdomen, even if there is no venom, it will cause death due to the large area of ​​​​muscle tissue tearing.

【Response to infection】

The wound is very obvious, and is accompanied by severe pain and bleeding due to the effect of the venom. Then, the pain with a spasming feeling will spread from the wound to the whole body.

【Method to break the move】

Stingrays are docile by nature and will only attack in self-defense. Since stingrays like to lurk in the muddy bottom, divers can easily "passively" disturb them. Therefore, diving in shallow muddy areas where stingrays live should be avoided.

If you are unfortunately stabbed, you should immediately use a tourniquet to tie the wound close to the wound, clean the wound repeatedly, try to prevent the venom from flowing back, and seek medical attention in time.

Magic poison injection - cone snail

People like to collect colorful shells, such as clams, snails, etc. Most of them are easy to get. These guys usually don't move or move slowly, so just be careful not to get caught. But if you encounter cone snails, be careful!

Cone snails, also known as chicken heart snails, have more than 500 species in the world. All of them are carnivorous and rely on venom to attack and defend.

Cone snail-injury incidents can be traced back to the 1840s. Nearly 100 such incidents have occurred so far, killing dozens of people. Most of them were attacked while collecting cone snails.

【Deadly trick】

The shell of the cone snail is pointed at the front and blunt at the back, resembling a taro or chicken heart. A long "harpoon"-shaped structure extends from the tip, which is its tongue tooth. The end of the tongue tooth is hollow, and actually acts as a venom conduit, which is connected to the terrible poison sac. The cone snail uses this conduit to inject conotoxin into the body of its prey or enemy. Conotoxin can act on voltage-gated sodium, calcium, and potassium ion channels in muscles.

What's even more terrifying is that each cone snail contains hundreds of toxins, and when this number is multiplied by the number of cone snail species, it can be concluded that there are as many as tens of thousands of cone snail toxins in the world. Therefore, as the sophistry goes, you cannot be bitten by the same cone snail and die from the same cone snail toxin.

(Tip: The cone snail living in Australia is the cone snail with the most complex toxins, with up to 200 toxins in its body)

【Response to infection】

After being stung by the cone snail's needle teeth, the wound will quickly become numb, followed by muscle paralysis. After the venom spreads throughout the body, the poisoned person will experience symptoms such as convulsions, coma, and systemic muscle paralysis. In severe cases, the victim will become drowsy for a long time and eventually die of heart failure.

【Method to break the move】

Try not to collect cone snail shells for fun. If you are unfortunately stung by a cone snail during the collection process, you should immediately rinse the wound with warm water to destroy its toxins and relieve pain. Then seek medical attention immediately.

"Poisonous" camouflage - stone fish

In September 2015, an astonishing scene occurred in the waters near Darwin Port in Australia. A sea snake and a stonefish bit each other tightly, and eventually both died from each other's venom.

We know that sea snakes are the most venomous creatures among the sea venom. But the stonefish in this old news is actually capable of dying together with the sea snake?

【Deadly trick】

The scientific name of stonefish is Hylocereus rosypii. It is a super camouflage master in the ocean. It has no scales on its body and is very smooth. Its body is thick and round with many tumor-shaped protrusions. It is mainly earth-colored and orange. It hides under rocks or coral reefs and looks like an unprepossessing stone.

This camouflage increases the danger of stonefish. Its dorsal fin, anal fin and pelvic fins are all covered with poisonous spines. On both sides of the dorsal fin spines are poison sacs. The toxins contained in the poison sacs have strong hemolytic activity and a very high mortality rate. The wonderful camouflage plus the terrible armament make stonefish injure people very frequently.

【Response to infection】

The fin spines of stonefish are extremely hard. When they pierce the human body (most likely to pierce the soles of the feet), they will cause severe pain, followed by the wound turning white and then purple, and accompanied by swelling and burning.

As the venom takes effect, people will experience symptoms such as low blood pressure, edema, nausea, dizziness, chest tightness, etc. In severe cases, respiratory and circulatory failure may occur, or even death.

【Method to break the move】

At present, anti-toxin serum for stonefish toxin is available abroad, while it is still under development in China. Therefore, when swimming, diving and other activities, you must make sure to check whether there are stonefish living on the reefs.

Stonefish are mainly distributed along the southeast coast of my country. Waters with a temperature of around 20°C and reefs are their favorite habitats.

Above: The scientific name of stonefish is Hymenoptera rosa, not because of its rose color, but because of its many thorns (Wiki)

Below: A stone fish and a sea snake locked in a clenched embrace (Source: National Geographic)

What other poisonous seaside creatures do you know?

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Editor/Heart and Paper