CHEMICAL CAUSES : CNIDARIA TOXINS

• Anthozoa
• Zoantharia
• Actiniaria
• Nynantheae
• Actiniidae
• Actinia
• Actinia equina

=> AeK : it inhibits voltage-gated K⁺ channels
• Anemonia
• Anemonia sulcata (a.k.a. snake-locks sea anemone)

=> AsKS : it inhibits voltage-gated K⁺ channels
• Bunodosoma
• Bunodosoma granulifera

=> BgK : it inhibits voltage-gated K⁺ channels
=> sponge-diver's disease / Skevas-Zerfus disease : a condition encountered by divers in the Mediterranean who come in contact with the stinging tentacles of sea anemones of the genera Sagartia and Actinia, which are frequently attached to the base of sponges; it is marked by burning, itching, erythema, necrosis, and ulceration
• Sagartiidae
• Sagartia
• Sagartia rosea
• Stichodactylidae
• Heteractis
• Heteractis magnifica (a.k.a. magnificent sea anemone)

=> magnificalysins I and II inhibit voltage-gated Na⁺ channels
• Stichodactyla
• Stichodactyla helianthus

=> Stichodactyla toxin (ShK) : it blocks voltage-gated K⁺ channels
=> maladie de plongeurs : inflammation and ulceration in divers in the Mediterranean caused by the stings of sea anemones
• Zoanthidea
• Sphenopidae
• Palythoa
• Palythoa toxica (a.k.a. "limu make o Hana" (deadly seaweed of Hana)
• Palythoa tuberculosa
=> palytoxin : LD₅₀ = 50÷100 ng/kg i.p. in mice. The compound is an intense vasoconstrictor; in dogs, it causes death within 5' at 60 ng/kg. By extrapolation, a toxic dose in a human would be about 4 mg : it is the most toxic organic substance known. The palytoxin molecule has the longest continuous chain of carbon atoms known to exist in a natural product. In the molecule of palytoxin, C₁₂₉H₂₂₃N₃O₅₄, 115 of the 129 carbons are in a continuous chain. Another unusual structure of palytoxin is that it contains 64 stereogenic centers, which means that palytoxin can have 264 stereoisomers. Added to this, the double bonds can exhibit cis/trans isomerism, which means that palytoxin can have > 10²¹ stereoisomers. This staggering molecular complexity should indicate the difficult nature of designing a stereocontrolled synthetic strategy that will produce just the one correct (natural) stereocenter. Palytoxin is an activator of voltage-gated Na⁺ channels, a potent hemolysin, histamine releaser, inhibitor of Na⁺/K⁺ ATPase, and a cation ionophore. It is also a non-TPA-type tumor promoter.

• Cubozoa
• Cubomedusae
• Carybdeidae
• Carukia
• Carukia barnesi (found in both coastal and open waters in Queensland, Australia)

Patients are more likely to be stung on hotter days, with lower-than-average rainfall in the past seven days, and with winds from the north, but less-than-average wind speed.
=> Irukandji syndrome
• Carybdea
• Carybdea alata

=> Carybdea alata toxin-A (CrTX-A)
• Carybdea rastonii (a.k.a. jimble)

=> Carybdea rastoni toxins (CrTXs)
• Tamoya spp. (morbakka, fire jelly, Moreton Bay stinger)
• Chirodropidae
• Chironex
• Chironex fleckeri (a.k.a. box jellyfish) inhabit calm waters close to the shore in far north Queensland between November and May. The venom includes 3 major components:
• haemolytic toxin
• dermatonecrotic toxin causes a ladder pattern of whiplash lesions to the skin which ulcerate become necrotic and heal very slowly over months
• myocardial toxin
Each jellybox contains enough venom to kill 60 persons
Symptoms & signs : vasospasm, cardiac irregularities, peripheral neuropathy, aphonia, ophthalmic abnormalities and parasympathetic dysautonomia
Therapy : emergency treatment comprises inactivation of stinging capsules by vinegar removal of tentacles analgesia, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the administration of the specific antivenom
Prognosis : neuromuscular paralysis and cardiovascular collapse may be fatal within minutes of envenomation
• Chiropsalmus
•  Chiropsalmus quadrigatus (a.k.a. Okinawan box jellyfish, Habu-kurage)  is distributed widely in the tropical Pacific region. In Japan, 3 fatal cases due to stings from this species have been reported officially

=> C. quadrigatus toxin-A (CqTX-A), a major 44 kDa proteinaceous toxin
• Hydrozoa
• Siphonophora
• Cystonectae
• Physaliidae
• Physalia
• Physalia physalis (a.k.a. Pacific or Portuguese man-of-war, man o'war).

=> P3 / hypnotoxin from tentacles reversibly blocks glutamate receptors, characteristically causing a CNS depression, affecting both motor and sensory elements.
• Physalia utriculus (a.k.a. bluebottle)
• Scyphozoa
• Rhizostomeae
• Catostylidae
• Catostylus
• Catostylus mosaicus (a.k.a. blubber jellyfish)

=> haemolytic, oedema, PL-A₂ and haemorrhage-inducing activities
• Pelagia noctiluca (mauve blubber, little mauve stinger)

=> permanent hyperpigmentation, Guillain-Barré syndrome
• Rhizostomatidae
• Stomolophus
• Stomolophus meleagris (cannonball jelly, cabbage head jellyfish)
• Semaeostomeae
• Cyaneidae
• Cyanea
• Cyanea capillata (hair jellyfish, lion's mane jellyfish)
• Pelagiidae
• Chrysaora
• Chrysaora quinquecirrha (sea nettle)

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