Four-handed Box Jellyfish

Description:

The four-handed box jellyfish is a species of box jellyfish in class Cubozoa. It is found in the west Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. The sting is venomous and dangerous to humans, especially children. Chiropsalmus quadrumanus is a cube-shaped, colourless, transparent jellyfish with a diameter of about 14 centimetres (5.5 in) and height a little less than this. The body is composed of a gelatinous material and the top edges are rounded while the top surface is flat. Bundles of 7 to 9 tentacles dangle from pedalia, palmate appendages at the four lower corners of the bell, with a tentacle on each "finger". The outer two tentacles are pinkish and the inner ones yellowish white and they can be up to 3 to 4 metres (9.8 to 13.1 ft) long. Halfway up the inside of the bell is the velarium, a horizontal ring of tissue partially blocking the aperture. The manubrium is a central column hanging down inside the bell with the mouth at its tip. The rounded stomach has four pouches connecting to radial sinuses along the edges of the bell. The gonads are on either side of the radial canals.

Habitat:

This one had washed up on the shore at Huntington Beach State Park near Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. This one was identified by the Facebook South Carolina Amateur Naturalist group.

Notes:

The long tentacles of Chiropsalmus quadrumanus are armed with nematocysts, the purpose of which is to capture prey such as small fish and to deter predators. They can inflict an extremely painful sting on people that encounter them.