Ten-year-old Russian boy survives being stung by Box Jellyfish in Thailand.

A ten-year-old Russian boy has been treated in hospital after being stung by a Box Jellyfish while swimming off Lamai Beach on Koh Samui (Samui Island) in Surat Thani Province, Thailand, on Wednesday 30 October 2019. He is reported to have been the eighth person stung off the island this year, slightly lower than most years. Blooms of Box Jellyfish are a common occurrence in the Gulf of Thailand between July and October, and present a regular threat to bathers, with eight recorded deaths in Thailand's coastal provinces since 1999 (the most recent death on Koh Samui was a German Tourist in 2015), and hundreds of people being stung each year. People stung by a Box Jellyfish are recommended to leave the water immediately and treat the sting with vinegar, which should be poured on but not rubbed, before seeking medical attention. Lamai Beach is protected by Jellyfish nets, which reduce the number of Jellyfish getting into tourist areas, and has first aid posts with vinegar available at regular intervals.

Ten-year-old Russian tourist being treated for a Box Jellyfish sting in Thailand this week. The Thaiger.

Most Box Jellyfish encountered in Thai waters belong to the species Chironex flecker, sometimes known as the Sea Wasp, which is endemic to shallow coastal waters and which has a particularly potent sting, with an adult of the species producing enough venom to kill around adult Humans, which makes them a common cause of fatalities from Southeast Asia to Australia. Box Jellyfish are particularly dangerous as they do not simply drift passively as other Jellyfish do, but posses well developed eyes, muscular and nervous systems, allowing them to actively hunt small prey, and sometimes (probably inadvertently) attack Humans.

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Warning issued to tourists after Box Jellyfish sighted off Ko Mak Island in Trat Province, Thailand.

A warning has been issued to tourists visiting Ko Mak Island in Trat Province, Thailand, after several bathers were stung by Box Jellyfish, Cubozoa, on Thursday 22 and Friday 23 March 2018. A number of safe areas for bathing have been set up, which are protected by fishing nets that should prevent the Jellyfish from entering, but otherwise people are being recommended to avoid the water. Blooms of Box Jellyfish are a common occurrence in the Gulf of Thailand at this time of year, and present a regular threat to bathers, with eight recorded deaths in Thailand's coastal provinces since 1999, and hundreds of people being stung each year. People stung by a Box Jellyfish are recommended to leave the water immediately and treat the sting with vinegar, which should be poured on but not rubbed, before seeking medical attention. 

A Box Jellyfish in the water near a bather in Thailand. Thai Box Jellyfish.

Most Box Jellyfish encountered in Thai waters belong to the species Chironex flecker, sometimes known as the Sea Wasp, which is endemic to shallow coastal waters and which has a particularly potent sting, with an adult of the species producing enough venom to kill around adult Humans, which makes them a common cause of fatalities from Southeast Asia to Australia. Box Jellyfish are particularly dangerous as they do not simply drift passively as other Jellyfish do, but posses well developed eyes, muscular and nervous systems, allowing them to actively hunt small prey, and sometimes (probably inadvertently) attack Humans.

Injuries caused by a Box Jellyfish sting. Thai Box Jellyfish.

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Parathalestris yeemini: A new species of Harpacticoid Copepod from Tao Island, southern Thailand.

Harpacticoid Copepods are predominantly benthic Copepods found globally in marine and some freshwater environments. A few planktonic species are known, but these are often associated with floating Macro-algae (Seaweed) rather then being true free-living members of the plankton. The majority of Harpacticoids live on or within sediments, with some species having become quite worm-like in form.

In a paper published in the Raffles Bulletin of Zoology on 10 November 2016, Supawadee Chullasorn of the Department of Biology at Ramkhamhaeng University, Pawana Kangtia of the Department of Biology at Bansomdejchaopraya Rajabhat University and Sung Joon Song of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences & Research Institute of Oceanography at Seoul National University describe a new species of Harpacticoid Copepod from Tao Island, part of the Chumphon Archipelago on the western shore of the Gulf of Thailand.

The new species is placed in the genus Parathalestris and given the specific name yeemini, in honour of Thamasak Yeemin of Ramkhamhaeng University for his work on Corals; the species was found living on dead Staghorn Corals, Acropora spp, and in coraline sands (i.e. sands made up of broken fragments of Coral skeletons). Thes Copepods are fusiform in shape (they have a spindle-shaped body that is wide in the middle and tapers towards each end). The sexes are unalike, with females being larger than the males; females observed measured 1.20-1.32 mm in length, while the males measured 0.87-1.15 mm.

Parathalestris yeemini, female. (A) Dorsal view; (B) lateral view; (C), caudal seta V. Chullasorn et al. (2016).

Parathalestris yeemini, Male. (A) Dorsal view; (B) Lateral view. Chullasorn et al. (2016).

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Oil spill devastates popular Thai tourist resort.

The popular tourist resort of Prao Bay, on Ko Samet Island off the coast of Rayong Province in Thailand has been covered by a 30 cm thick layer of black crude oil, following a leak from a pipeline owned by PTT Global Chemical Plc, which developed problems on Saturday 27 July 2013, leading to the release of about 50 000 liters of oil. The spill has spread to several smaller neighbouring islands, and there are fears it may reach the mainland. Oil is produced from a number of fields in the Gulf of Thailand and shipped to a refinery in Map Ta Phut in Rayong Province by oil tanker. The pipeline that leaked is used to unload oil from tankers 20 km offshore from the refinery.

Thai soldiers attempting to Ao Prao Beach on Ko Samet Island on Tuesday 30 July 2013. Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters.

The company initially suggested the oil spill would be cleaned up within three days, though environmental groups were quick to point out that this was not only improbable, but implied that PTT had not thought through the possibility of a large spill, and how to deal with its consequences. It now looks likely that the tourist and fishing industries of the Gulf of Thailand will be badly affected by the spill for some time to come, with the Rayong Tourist Association warning that 30% of tourists on the island have already left.

The approximate location of the area affected by the 27 July 2013 PTT oil spill. Google Maps.

To make matters worse, the Thai Pollution Control Department are now suggesting that PTT may have used excessive levels of potentially harmful chemical dispersants while trying to control the spill. The company initially applied for permission to used 25 000 liters of dispersants, but was restricted to 5000 liters by the department, since a ratio of 1:10 is generally considered sufficient for the chemicals to work, and the dispersants are themselves thought to be lethal to many forms of marine life. The department now says the company has admitted to using 35 000 liters of dispersant, enough to (in theory) disperse around 350 000 liters of oil. This has led to the suggestion by biologist Pahol Kosiyachinda of Mahidol University that the spill may have been considerably larger than PTT are admitting. 

A vessel spraying chemical dispersants near Ao Prao Beach on Ko Samet Island on Tuesday 30 July 2013. Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters.

See also Gas and oil leak at Taylor Creek in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, Two new species of Amphipod Crustacean from the Gulf of Thailand, Oil spill in the Ecuadorean Amazon, Three workers killed in rockfall at Thai limestone quarry and Collision leads to oil spill on swollen Mississippi.

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Two new species of Amphipod Crustacean from the Gulf of Thailand.

Amphipods are (mostly) small, laterally compressed Crustaceans with differentiated legs (i.e. not all their legs are the same). Female Amphipods carry their eggs in brood pouches till they hatch; the young resemble the adults and typically reach maturity after about six molts. Amphipods are extremely widespread and numerous, but often overlooked due to their small size, most species being under 10 mm, though giant species exceeding 30 cm are known from the deep oceans.

In a paper published in the journal ZooKeys on 5 June 2013, Koraon Wongkamhaeng of the Excellence Center for Biodiversity of Peninsular Thailand at the Prince of Songkla University, Charles Coleman of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and Pornsilp Pholpunthin, also of the Excellence Center for Biodiversity, describe two new species of Amphipod Crustaceans from the Seagrass beds of Talet Bay and Phangan Island in the Lower Gulf of Thailand.

The first new species described is placed in the genus Maeropsis, and given the specific name paphavasitae, in honour of Nittharatana Paphavasit of Chulalongkorn University, who has studied biology of Seagrass beds in the Gulf of Thailand. Maeropsis paphavasitae is a 5 mm Amphipod Crustacean found living on the Seagrass Thalassia hemprichii in beds in Talet Bay.

Maeropsis paphavasitae, line drawing of male; the females are essentially similar. Wongkamhaeng et al. (2013).

The second new species is placed in the genus Rotomelita, and given the specific name longipropoda, in reference to the length of the propodus (second segment) of the male gnathopod (limb on the second thoracic segment). Rotomelita longipropoda is a 1.65 mm Amphipod Crustacean found living on the Seagrasses Thalassia hemprichii and Halophila ovalis, in beds off Phangan Island. The females are slightly larger than the males, and are distinct anatomically.

Rotomelita longipropoda; male (top) and female (bottom). Wongkamhaeng et al. (2013).

Map showing the sites where the specimens were found. Wongkamhaeng et al. (2013).

See also A new species of Peppermint Shrimp from the Caribbean, Four new species of parasitic Copepods from Japan, A new Isopod Crustacean from a limestone cave in Brazil, Two new species of Cave Crab from Christmas Island and Nauplius Larvae frim the Windyfield Chert in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

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