Within the family of Chirodropidae, there is a specific character that can allow someone to distinguish between Chirodropidae and the similar family Carybdeidae. This indicative character of this family of box jellyfish is their branched pedalia. Specifically, each branch houses its own individual tentacle [1]. In addition, the nematocyst composition can vary among these individuals within this family based on body size.[2]The nematocyst composition can also be varied depending on the life stage in terms of polyp or medusa as well as if the individual is large or small. They can also have a variety of nematocyst types. Organisms falling within this family like other box jellyfish can be found in coastal and shallow marine areas but resarch has shown that they have also been found to inhabit areas at benthic depths[3].
- ^ Cartwright, P; Halgedahl, S. L.; Hendricks., J. R.; Jarrard, R. D.; Marques, A. C.; Collins, A. G.; Lieberman, B. S. (2007-10-31). "Exceptionally Preserved Jellyfishes from the Middle Cambrian". PLoS ONE. 2 (10): e1121. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0001121. ISSN 1932-6203.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ Oba, A.; Hidaka, M.; Iwanaga, S. (2004). Fautin, D. G.; Westfall, J. A.; Cartwrigh, P.; Daly, M.; Wyttenbach, C. R. (eds.). "Nematocyst composition of the cubomedusan Chiropsalmus quadrigatus changes with growth". Coelenterate Biology 2003. Developments in Hydrobiology. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands: 173–177. doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-2762-8_21. ISBN 978-1-4020-2762-8.
- ^ Keesing, J. K.; Strzelecki, J.; Stowar, M.; Wakeford, M.; Miller, K. J.; Gershwin, L.; Liu, D. (2016-02-29). "Abundant box jellyfish, Chironex sp. (Cnidaria: Cubozoa: Chirodropidae), discovered at depths of over 50 m on western Australian coastal reefs". Scientific Reports. 6 (1): 22290. doi:10.1038/srep22290. ISSN 2045-2322.