What does the biggest jellyfish look like and how is it dangerous?

If you put on a diving suit and go down inwater of the Yellow Sea, you are most likely to meet a huge jellyfish Nomura (Nemopilema nomurai). The body diameter of these creatures is about two meters, and their weight reaches 200 kilograms - they weigh almost like adult lions. Most of the time, they simply sway in the water and absorb tiny plankton, but if someone comes close to them and starts to tease, it’s not good enough. The long tentacles of the jellyfish are covered with cells that produce strong poison, the composition of which is still unknown to scientists. Since the substances released by the tentacles are poorly studied, antidotes against jellyfish do not yet exist.

Medusa Nomuru and man

Underwater monster

Hundreds of thousands suffer from the poison of Nomuru jellyfishresidents of China, Korea and Japan. Especially many victims of these creatures were counted in the autumn periods of 2002-2004. Then the number of Nomuru jellyfish off the coast of Japan increased sharply, which is why swimmers began to come across them much more often. The emergence of a large accumulation of jellyfish in one region was due to the fact that construction work was carried out on the coasts of China and Korea - huge creatures had to sail away. In addition, the waters on the coast of Japan were warm, and an increase in temperature from 13 to 23 degrees Celsius provoked the reproduction of jellyfish.

Nomura is considered one of the largest jellyfish, because its diameter reaches two meters

If you approach the huge creatures, theyattack immediately. As soon as the tentacles of a huge creature touch the skin, people experience severe pain. Subsequently, redness and swelling occur at the site of contact. In some cases, it comes to the point that the victims of the jellyfish are in a state of shock and even die. But what exactly the substances contained in the tentacles of the animal do the maximum harm to the human body, the researchers still have not been clear.

Deadly poison

Attempts to identify the exact composition of the poison of jellyfish Nomuruhave been undertaken before, but only recently have they taken up this matter seriously. According to the scientific journal Journal of Proteome Research, jellyfish tentacle cells produce a mixture of more than 200 toxic substances, but no one knew which ones were the most dangerous. Researchers were able to “milk” the mixture, but dividing it into its constituent parts was too difficult a task.

See also: The most poisonous city in the world is located in Russia

But in the end, scientists found a way to extractpoisonous particles and arrange them in groups. Although not very humane, the researchers cut off several tentacles of live jellyfish and placed them in a centrifuge. Twisting them at a very high speed, the researchers surpassed all the poisonous cells of jellyfish on the surface of their body. Of their so-called nematocysts, they extracted toxic substances and sorted them into groups. Each substance was tested in the bodies of laboratory mice.

The process of separating mixtures into constituents for the purpose of their subsequent study is called chromatography.

It turned out that in the tentacles of jellyfish Nomurucontains at least 13 life-threatening poisons. But the strongest was NnLF, which destroyed the cells of organisms and led to the adhesion of blood cells. Organisms in laboratory mice were literally littered with thick substances that ultimately led to death. Thus, the strongest poison of huge jellyfish has finally been revealed.

Most laboratory mice die due to exposure to a substance called NnLF

However, researchers believe that to the death of peopleand animals are brought not only by this poison, but also by many other chemical compounds. Most likely, they act together, affecting completely different groups of organs in different ways. This fact greatly complicates the development of an antidote from the bites of a huge creature, but scientific work in this direction will certainly be carried out in the future.

If you are interested in the news of science and technology, subscribe to our channel in Yandex. Dzen. There you will find materials that have not been published on the site!

I also recommend reading about dangerous poisons.article about the mancinella tree, which is also known as the "beach apple." It is included in the Guinness Book of Records as the most poisonous tree on the planet - if its sap enters the skin of a person, then large bubbles appear on it. Naturally, swallowing this juice equals inevitable death. If you want to know more about this tree, read this material.