We like to think that we know a lot about the natural world, but sometimes there are things that just stump us. Take the body composition of jellyfish for example. They’re pretty much all water with a little thickener added, that float around the ocean and make occasional appearances in movies stinging clownfish.
But despite being made up of 96% water, Irukandji and other members of the box jellyfish family are deadly to poor fish folk and at times human folk. The big box jellyfish claiming the title as the deadliest animal on the planet! It can kill a human in less than 2 minutes flat!
Which is bonkers when you think about it. How can an animal, which is basically all water, be so dangerous?
Does your deadliness equate to how much water you have in your body? We decided to find out by comparing these deadly jellies with other dangerous animals and ranking them in order of deadliness.
- Box Jellyfish (including the Irukandji) 96% water
- Taipan Snake – 70% water
- Poison arrow frog – 75% water
- Stonefish – 75% water
The box jellies trump every other deadly animal in terms of water content, with the Taipan snake coming in second, which is interesting as it has less water but is more deadly than the poison arrow frog and stonefish. So our theory of deadliness equating to high percentages of water content goes out the window.
Which brings us back to the question ‘How can something which is most water be so deadly? Well in short we’re still not sure, which is why we love the world we work in. Nature always raises more questions than it answers, which keeps us entertained, ever curious and scientists in their jobs.
