[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

But of course.

These jellyfish: http://www.abc.net.au/science/articl...13/3653150.htm

Australian box jellyfish can cause deadly cardiac arrest within minutes by punching holes in red blood cells and causing potassium to leak out of them, Hawaiian researchers have found.

But, say the researchers, writing today in the journal PLoS ONE, a zinc-based compound could one day be used as a treatment.

"The box jellyfish is the most venomous animal in the world," says lead author, Dr Angel Yanagihara, of the University of Hawaii's Department of Tropical Medicine.

The Australian box jellyfish (Chironex fleckeri) inhabits coastal waters from Australia to Vietnam.

The creature is the size of a basketball and has 60 two-metre long tentacles covered in stinging cells. Apart from causing unsuspecting swimmers excrutiatingly pain and other symptoms, being stung also occasionally leads to rapid death from cardiac arrest.

"The fastest deaths have been within 2 to 5 minutes," says Yanagihara.