A large box jellyfish of shallow coastal water in the wet season, with a pale cube-shaped bell and trailing tentacles.
A cube-shaped bell up to about 30 cm across, almost colourless, with up to fifteen tentacles from each of the four corners. The tentacles trail two to three metres and are what a swimmer meets. The animal is difficult to see against sand or in turbid water, which is the main reason it matters.
It is a coastal animal of the wet season, found in shallow water over sand and near river mouths in northern Australia and parts of the tropical Indo-Pacific. It is not a reef animal and divers on offshore reefs rarely meet it.
The practical measures are the ones the local operators already use: a full-length suit or a stinger suit, entry and exit at stinger-net beaches where they exist, and taking notice of the season. Boats in that region carry vinegar for a reason. What to do after a sting is a matter for the boat’s first aid plan and a doctor, not for this page.
This entry carries no occurrence record. The animal is listed because it is a hazard a diver should be able to look up, and its range is given above, but none of the destinations this site holds data for is inside that range. A record will be added when there is one to add rather than an estimate to invent.
