Summary
On 6 August 2017 a Melbourne teenager was hospitalised for profuse bleeding after he was bitten on the ankles and feet while standing in the water at Dendy Street Beach at Brighton, Victoria. It was unclear what had caused his injuries so his father returned to the beach and collected a sample using raw meat as bait. The samples were brought to Melbourne Museum where Natural Sciences staff identified the majority of the animals in the sample as Lysianassid amphipods. These globally occurring amphipods are scavengers known for swarming around dead fish and other food sources. Bites that bleed freely are reported quite frequently, though rarely to the extent encountered in this event.
The incident received local, national and international media attention.
Specimen Details
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Taxon Name
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Preferred Common name
Amphipod
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Identified By
Dr Genefor Walker-Smith - Museums Victoria
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Number Of Specimens
1
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Specimen Nature
Nature: Whole, Form: wet, Fixative treatment: ethanol 70%, Medium: ethanol 70%
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Collected By
Jarrod Kanizay
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Sampling Method
bait pump
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Date Visited From
7/08/2017
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Date Visited To
7/08/2017
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Depth To (m)
1
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Type of Item
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