第 1103 號，共 1 402 號

Mauve stinger

Pelagia noctiluca

名字的由來： Pelagia comes from Greek and means "of the sea". Noctiluca comes from Latin and means "night light", because the jellyfish can glow in the dark.1

只是會痛不要碰會痛，但不會對你造成嚴重傷害。

水母和會螫人的海洋生物

會螫人的觸手吃：每樣都來一點

對人的危險: 疼痛可能會非常痛，但幾乎從來不會很嚴重。

The mauve stinger is a small jellyfish that drifts in warm seas across much of the world. Its bell and tentacles are covered in stinging cells, so its stings hurt, even when the jellyfish is dead and washed up on a beach. Huge swarms of them can close beaches and damage fishing and fish farms.1

分布在

Tropical and warm temperate seas worldwide, most common in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean, and all around Australia1

大西洋, 太平洋, 印度洋, 地中海, 紅海

首頁

It lives in the open sea, mostly between the surface and 150 m deep. Swarms are often carried by wind or currents onto beaches, where tourists avoid the water and fishers get stung while freeing their nets.1

長度

3 cm 到 12 cm (1,2 in 到 4,7 in)1

最高速度

大約 0,46 km/h（0,29 mph）

游泳, 粗略估計

牠吃什麼？

It eats small animals such as tiny crustaceans, fish eggs and fish larvae, and also collects microscopic plant plankton. It catches prey mainly by taking particles of food in its body, and adults will eat their own young.1

Mauve stinger 的照片 — Mauve stinger。照片：Hans Hillewaert。 CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.

怎麼認出牠

Adults have a bell 3 to 12 cm across.1
Colour varies from mauve and purple to pink, light brown and yellow.1
It has eight long tentacles and four long oral arms.1
Unusually for a jellyfish, both the bell and the tentacles carry stinging cells.1
When disturbed by waves or a ship's motion, it gives off short flashes of light at night.1

常被誤認為： Its common name purple-striped jelly can cause confusion with Chrysaora colorata. Stings from either can cross-react, so people who have been stung by one may react to the other.1

毒液力量

會螫人的觸手

有東西碰到時，成千上萬個小小的刺細胞就會發射。

牠的毒液有什麼作用？

This jellyfish stings rather than bites. Its stinging cells cause pain, redness, swelling and a rash, and the pain typically lasts 1 to 2 weeks. Less often, people feel dizzy or are sick or have diarrhoea, and skin rashes can return years later.1

牠對人有多危險？

對人的危險: 疼痛可能會非常痛，但幾乎從來不會很嚴重。

Stings are common and painful, but they are generally not dangerous and there are no known deaths. A rare serious allergic reaction can happen, and a single case of Guillain–Barré syndrome, a serious nerve condition, has been linked to a sting; all symptoms in that case cleared within 6 months.1

牠害怕時會做什麼？

Its stinging cells are used to defend it as well as to catch prey.1

如果牠螫人

The sting may possibly be relieved with compounds called hydroxyacetophenone and Symsitive, which stop the stinging cells firing. Seek medical help if a serious allergic reaction or other symptoms develop.1
離開水裡，把觸手拿掉（戴手套或用布）。
熱帶箱形水母：在螫傷處倒醋至少 30 秒，求救，並準備好做心肺復甦術（CPR）。藍瓶水母和大多數其他水母：用海水沖洗，再用熱水止痛。

一定要先打緊急電話（112、000、911）。這是一般急救指引，不是醫療建議。急救基本知識

注意安全

絕對不要碰、抓或捉弄野生動物，就算是很小的動物，就算牠看起來在睡覺或已經死了也一樣。
給牠空間。如果遇到了，保持冷靜，慢慢往後退，讓牠自己離開。
如果被牠螫了：保持冷靜，保持不動，打緊急電話（112、000、911）或趕快去醫院。記住牠的樣子，有照片會很有幫助。

牠不是想來抓你。牠用毒液來捕捉食物或保護自己，而且牠更想躲起來。更多安全知識

在世界上的哪裡？

非洲亞洲歐洲北美洲南美洲澳洲與大洋洲太平洋大西洋印度洋地中海紅海

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

跟 4 塊玩具積木排成一排一樣長

Mauve stinger 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡做算術。什麼都不會儲存，也不會傳送到任何地方。

牠有多快？

一隻花園蝸牛 大約 0,05 km/h (0,03 mph)

Mauve stinger 大約 0,46 km/h (0,29 mph)

一個正在游泳的人 大約 3 km/h (1,9 mph)

值得知道

小知識

It glows in the dark, and a description of its light was written by Pliny the Elder in 77 AD.1

Unlike most jellyfish, it has stinging cells on its bell as well as its tentacles.1

A seven-arm octopus has been recorded holding one of these jellyfish to use its sting as a defence.1

Swarms can cover tens of square kilometres and contain millions of jellyfish.1

It can eat microscopic plant plankton, which is highly unusual for a cnidarian.1

It has no polyp stage, a bottom-dwelling stage that most other jellyfish go through.1

破解迷思

迷思： A dead jellyfish washed up on the beach is harmless.

真相： Even recently dead, stranded individuals can still sting.1

給毒液專家

學名: Pelagia noctiluca
類群: 水母和會螫人的海洋生物
家人: Pelagiidae2
排序: Semaeostomeae
各大洲: 大西洋, 太平洋, 印度洋, 地中海, 紅海, 海洋
寶寶: Males and females release sperm and eggs into the sea during daylight. The fertilised egg becomes a larva in 3 days, a tiny young jellyfish after a week, and an adult about a month later.1
壽命: 大約 0,75 年1
對人的危險: 2 / 5: 疼痛3