Ecology of Chironex fleckeri
| Main Ref. | Grzimek, B., 2004 |
|---|---|
| Remarks | Usually shallow water around creeks or mangrove outlets; often reported swimming around pier pilings in search of food (Ref. 3078). Polyps located in situ attached to underside of rocks near a river (Ref. 116835). Coastal inhabitant with alternating life stages: sessile polyps and small medusae in creek systems, while sexually mature highly mobile adult forms are in near-shore at depths less than 5 m. Strong swimmers. To ingest prey, it usually stops swimming and orients it dorsal section of the bell downwards. Forages in mangroves from November to March in Darwin, and feeds predominantly on prawns, while very huge medusa capture fish as well. Avoids habitats where entanglement of their tentacles is at risk (Ref. 116578). |
Aquatic zones / Water bodies
| Marine - Neritic | Marine - Oceanic | Brackishwater | Freshwater | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marine zones / Brackish and freshwater bodies |
|
|
|
|
Habitat
| Substrate | Pelagic; |
|---|---|
| Substrate Ref. | |
| Special habitats | |
| Special habitats Ref. |
Associations
| Ref. | Grzimek, B., 2004 |
|---|---|
| Associations | |
| Associated with | |
| Association remarks | |
| Parasitism |
feeding
| Feeding type | mainly animals (troph. 2.8 and up) |
|---|---|
| Feeding type Ref. | Keesing, J.K., J. Strzelecki, M. Stowar, M. Wakeford, K.J. Miller, L.A. Gershwin and D. Liu, 2016 |
| Feeding habit | hunting macrofauna (predator) |
| Feeding habit Ref. | Keesing, J.K., J. Strzelecki, M. Stowar, M. Wakeford, K.J. Miller, L.A. Gershwin and D. Liu, 2016 |
Trophic Level(s)
| Estimation method | original sample | unfished population | Remark | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Troph | s.e. | Troph | s.e. | ||
| From diet composition | |||||
| From individual food items | 4.07 | 0.71 | Trophic level estimated from a number of food items using a randomized resampling routine. | ||
| Ref. | |||||