It’s been a wild and horrifying couple of days in ocean-related news. Just yesterday, we learned of a Melbourne teen whose legs somehow got munched to bloodied shreds by unidentified sea creatures, and earlier today the kid’s dad managed to catch and film a bunch of the little buggers going berserk on bits of fresh meat (hurf).
Now, some slightly better news: the bloodthirsty denizens of the deep have been identified by none other than Museums Victoria‘s marine biologist.
Genefor Walker-Smith managed to cop a look at the sea-bugs Jarrod Kanizay caught at Brighton Beach, and confirmed that they are lysianassid amphipods.
They’re a “naturally-occurring” (you’d hope so) scavenging crustacean, who apparently often bite but do not often cause the hectic wounds that Sam Kanizay copped on his lower legs.
Walker-Smith said that it’s possible the crustaceans’ bite contains an anticoagulant, which would explain why Sam’s doctors had a helluva time trying to stop the bleeding.
u little shit
Happily, we can rest assured that the vicious bastards are not venomous, and aren’t likely to cause any lasting damage. Also, apparently, they’re often called “sea fleas” – not, as many have been saying, “sea lice“, which refers to isopods.
What’s that? You can’t be expected to immediately tell the difference between your amphipods and your isopods? Pff. Amateur.