The term "sea fleas", water fleas, was strange to me until this May when I had the terrible experience of meeting them while on vacation in Mexico.
At first, I thought I had a sudden allergic reaction to sea water. I wonder why these terrible creatures chose me over all other swimmers?
What is a sea lice rash in humans?
These rashes appear when a swimmer, scuba diver, or snorkeler comes in contact with and gets stung by the tiny larvae of the fox-jellyfish ( Linuche unguiculata), sea anemone ( Edwardsiella lineata) and other types of marine life.
These miniature sea creatures have several specialized stinging cells on their bodies called nematocysts.
When touched, the tentacles with the natatocysts of jellyfish and sea anemone, they inject toxins in self-defense. Toxins are responsible for the rash.
Of all the sea larvae that can cause sea lice rashes, the foxglove jellyfish larvae are the most common culprits. This means that when people complain about sea flea bites, they really should be talking about thimbles.
In water, foxglove jellyfish larvae cannot be seen with the naked eye. They often make their way through swimwear and diving suits, where they are trapped. When they are near the body, they begin to sting, in order to protect themselves.
Although they occur at any time of the year, sea flea pricks and associated itchy rashes occur between April and August.
Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean are the most dangerous areas where lesions are common, and similar problems have been reported in South America (Brazil), Australia, Southeast Asia (Thailand, Philippines) and New Zealand.
In Mexico, people who visit Cancun, Cozumel, and other popular tourist destinations during the warmer months are at particular risk of developing a sea flea rash. I can personally attest to this after my bad experience in Cancun.
Cases of sea fleas have been reported to have increased in recent years. This prompted authorities in several parts of the United States (especially Florida), the Caribbean and Mexico to plant purple flags along the contaminated sea beaches as a warning sign during the peak season.
Good news - The sea flea rash is not contagious.
Symptoms
The bite from an adult jellyfish on the thimble is usually painful, and you will not notice the attack of their larvae immediately. Only after a while will you feel a tingling sensation in areas of the body covered by or subject to abrasion from swimming or diving equipment. For example, armpits, groin, chest, inner thighs, neck.
In addition to itching and blistering, the rash can be accompanied by the following symptoms, especially in more severe cases:
- Fever;
- Chills;
- Nausea;
- Headache;
- Fatigue, especially in children;
- Urethritis (inflammation of the urethra);
- Redness of the eyes.
Symptoms vary from person to person depending on the body's response to the sting. People who have developed a rash before are more likely to develop symptoms.
“People with allergic reactions and weakened immune systems are at a higher risk of developing severe rashes,” says Mebane, MD, medical director of the Divers Alert Network (DAN).
A rash of sea fleas lasts from a couple of days to a week. In severe cases, it may take several weeks for a complete cure.
How it looks
Sea lice bites are caused along with red, raised patches of skin along with bumps or blisters, as you will see in the following pictures:
How to get rid of a rash quickly - effective remedies
Although sea flea bites are harmless and heal in a week in most cases, rashes and itching are very uncomfortable.
The home remedies for sea rash listed below can help relieve itching discomfort and other symptoms by speeding up the healing process.
Do not rub, do not scratch the skin
This is not a way to get rid of the rash, no doubt about it. Scratching or rubbing the affected area will only worsen the condition.
The urge to brush itchy areas can be overwhelming, but hold yourself back from it. If you use a towel to dry yourself after showering, pat your skin gently rather than rubbing it over the surface.
Take a shower
Taking a shower can help relieve skin irritation. One mistake people often make is to wash while still wearing a soiled swimsuit. This causes the maggots to remain trapped in the fabric of your suit and sting.
The fauna and flora on the seabed of the reserve is very diverse. Any rocks, stones, sand, silt under water are inhabited by various living creatures. Despite the relatively small area of the marine part of the reserve (809 hectares) on land at the very edge of the water, where waves only periodically wash the coast, dozens of species live in the splash zone. The number of crustaceans - amphipods can amount to tens of thousands per square meter. Particularly numerous are small amphipods, named for their jumping ability as sea fleas. They accumulate in masses under the seaweed thrown out by the sea, and if disturbed, they quickly scatter under any nearby shelter. For humans, sea fleas are completely harmless, but in the life of the sea they play an important role. Consuming decaying algae, these crustaceans act as orderlies, cleaning the coastal part of excessive pollution. A striking representative of animals that prefer to live on the border of water and land is the marble crab. Its shell reaches 4.5 cm in width. The crab nimbly runs from one stone to another, hides in cracks and tries to hide when a person approaches. These crustaceans, like other crabs, are orderlies, since they eat the decaying remains of animals, which provide an invaluable service to the reserve and humans. The number of crabs and shrimps in Karadag has 28 species out of 38 known for the entire Black Sea.
On solid soils, a community of algae and various animals is formed, which scientists - hydrobiologists call fouling. Until recently, the most striking and widespread animals were mussels - bivalve molluscs, whose almost black shells often covered the surface of stones and rocks in the reserve with a dense brush. In the 80s of the last century, the largest mussels in the Black Sea were found on the Golden Gate rock. The shells of the mussel shell can reach a length of 10 cm or more. The mussel filters sea water through its gill apparatus, while retaining phytoplankton organisms and various small food particles that make up their main food. From one square meter of solid substrate, mussels, by filtering, purify up to 20 cubic meters of water per day. These molluscs are the most powerful living filter of the Black Sea.
In addition to mussels and other bivalves, seawater is purified by other organisms - for example, sponges that look like lumps of different colors in appearance. There are 8 known species of them in the reserve. Tunicates, similar to jugs up to 6 cm in size with two holes at the top, also filter water.
Mussels and other bivalve molluscs are attacked by the rapana snail. This is the largest gastropod mollusk of the Black Sea with a beautiful shell, the shell length of which can reach 15 cm. It was first discovered in the Black Sea in the 50s of the last century. Rapana is a valuable commercial species and is actively caught by divers along the entire coast of Crimea. The life cycle of this snail is interesting. In winter, they bury themselves in the sand, and in summer, in July - August, they accumulate in groups for breeding at a depth of several meters and even at the surface on rocks. Rapana is a favorite gourmet delicacy.
Rapana - invader to the Black Sea
The largest crab of the Black Sea is stone or erythia. The shell color of this crab is bright red-brown. The width of its shell reaches 10 cm. The stone crab is the orderly of the sea. By consuming various decaying remains, these crabs help to maintain the purity of the water. In addition to the stone crab, among the mussels, there is often a small crab called pilluminus. The carapace of this crab is painted in a bright crimson color and, despite its small size, the pillus rather noticeably "nibbles".
Stone crab
Often on stones and rocks you can see small "flowers" with short thick legs, reminiscent of asters. These are primitive animals - anemones. They are relatives of the famous corals, but unlike the latter, they do not have a hard external skeleton. These unusual animals are predators. Many exposed venomous tentacles catch various small animals that are careless to touch them. Anemones are not the only representatives of these animals in the Black Sea. Very similar to the sea anemone, but smaller and more graceful, is a small sitting jellyfish - alfalfa. It resembles a tiny glass with fringed edges. Lucerne is very demanding on the purity of water, so its distribution in the Black Sea is limited.
Actinia
Despite the relatively small area of the marine part of the reserve, it is home to a surprisingly large number of animals and plants. Thus, in the reserve there are more than half of the species of polychaete polychaete worms - 101 species out of 192 for the entire Black Sea! A striking representative of this group is the perinereis worm, which reaches a length of 10 cm. Live perinereis is red-brown in color with a metallic sheen. They feed on plant debris, although small crustaceans are found in its intestines - harpacticide. Fertility of perinereis is high - more than 400 thousand eggs per female. Worms - polychaetes, oligochaetes, nematodes - are an important link in the food web of the sea, playing a significant role in the fragile balance of living things.
Small organisms from about 1mm to 1cm in length play an important role in maintaining the balance in the reserve. Reaching colossal numbers, they become an important part of the food of many commercial fish species and an important link in the cycle of life. Imagine that on the rocks of Karadag, on an area of 1 square meter, you can count up to hundreds of thousands of small crustaceans of only one species. And in terms of the number of species, small animals are incomparably greater than large ones. Some of these tiny creatures are quite interesting in appearance and lifestyle. So, for example, the small crustacean sea goat is so unusual in body shape that it is sometimes difficult to recognize it as an animal rather than a plant. The males of these creatures have a poisonous thorn on the claw, which they kill prey or use to protect the female from a rival. But because of their small size (only up to 12 mm), sea goats are completely harmless to humans.
If we pay attention to the sandy clearing at the bottom, then at first glance it will seem that there are incomparably fewer inhabitants there than on the rocks. In fact, this is not the case. Inhabitants of loose soils - pebbles, sand, silt for the most part burrow into the ground or hide between separate pebbles. After all, if you gape a little, that and look you will find yourself at lunch with some kind of fish or crab. A striking representative of such burrowing fauna is the crayfish - the uphebia mole with a shell length of up to 6 cm. These crayfish burrow into the ground and, swimming with a mask above the bottom, it is possible to see only their burrows. The body shape of the upogebia is unusual and is somewhat reminiscent of a praying mantis insect. Crayfish - moles build their burrows in such a way that there are two exits and in case of danger one could jump out from the other side. Therefore, it is very difficult to catch them.
Another large representative of sandy-silty soils is the bivalve mollusk Anadara, a recent invader to the Black Sea. Anadara, like higher animals, has red blood and is able to withstand very harsh living conditions. Like many large bivalves, the anadara is fished in some countries.
Anadara - invader to the Black Sea
Especially many different small animals accumulate on the sand if there are accumulations of torn off algae, knocked into heaps by waves and currents. Such accumulations attract crustaceans, snails, various worms and fish, willingly feasting on numerous prey. On one square meter of the sandy bottom, covered with accumulations of torn off algae, you can count tens of thousands of different small inhabitants.
A very interesting representative of the sandy fauna is the swimming crab with a shell width of up to 4 cm. Its hind legs are flattened, which allows it to swim quite successfully and settle in other territories. Among the real crabs off the coast of the Karadag, you can occasionally find a long-legged long-billed sea spider, or macropodia, which has a maximum size of up to 31 mm. Representatives of this genus live mainly in warm seas.
Long-legged long-billed sea spider
On the sandy bottom of the Karadag, even bivalve mollusks can float slightly above the ground, moving by jumping. This is the behavior of the famous scallops, called in the common people the "crown" for the distant resemblance to this object. Scallops are surprisingly varied in color: red, brown, bright yellow with a multi-colored pattern. Unfortunately, there are very few of these bivalves up to 5.5 cm long in the coastal waters of the Crimea and the water area of the Karadag reserve, for reasons that are not yet understood.
A source : V.A. Grintsov Fauna of the seabed // Reserve Karadag: popular science essays / Ed. A.L. Morozova. - Simferopol: N. Oranda, 2011 .-- S. 172-177.
These are the so-called sand fleas, or amphipods. They belong to the Talitridae family. In another way, these fleas are called beach fleas. Local residents have known about them for a long time, tourists only recently learned about them.
They are very small in size. Their length is only 1-2 mm, but they can jump up to 40 mm. Fleas are dark brown in color and resemble shrimp - their body consists of separate segments. They are believed to belong to the same family as feline fleas. Insects have no wings, but they have long legs.
Insect activity occurs in the evening and morning hours - at sunrise or sunset. It is at this time that they bite more often.
To get rid of fleas, our readers advise the Pest-Reject repeller. The operation of the device is based on the technology of electro-magnetic impulses and ultrasonic waves! Absolutely safe, ecological product for humans and pets.
Where dwell
Flea congestion is often seen around discarded seaweed and along the surf line. A swarm of fleas can emit a sound that resembles a quiet howl. If you hear a sound in the silence that does not sound like the lapping of waves, it is better to leave the beach.
Why are they dangerous?
Both males and females bite a person. Males drink blood, leaving behind only the bite and itching. A female bite is fraught with more than irritation. Females use humans as a source of blood for reproduction.
The sea sand flea invades the skin and attaches itself to a blood vessel, feeding on the blood it needs to mature its eggs. At the same time, it increases and reaches the size of a pea. As soon as the eggs are ripe, she shoots them out of the wound and dies.
The remains of the female remain in the microscopic wound, which causes suppuration and severe pain. The disease that sand fleas cause in this way is called sarcopsillosis, or tungiosis.
Signs of a bite
The usual ones resemble a mosquito bite - both in terms of the level of pain and in the consequences - itching, redness, and slight pain appear.
If we are talking about a sucked female, then the signs are already different:
- a swollen red area of skin;
- the presence of a white abscess;
- black dot in the center - flea abdomen;
- strong pain.
Consequences of the meeting
In advanced cases, suppuration will lead to sepsis, blood poisoning and gangrene, which can even result in death. There are known cases of amputation of fingers after untreated flea bites.
Flea bites
The marine flea living on the beaches bites limbs more often. At the same time, she loves the places of the buttocks, the groin area, the spaces between the fingers, the areas near the nails, the ankles.
Prevention of bites
To prevent the bloodthirsty sea flea from reaching its goal, it is worth observing simple safety measures:
- do not walk along the beach at dawn and dusk and do not touch the seaweed;
- do not walk barefoot on the sand;
- use sun loungers - do not sit or lie on the beach;
- wear socks;
- be not on wild, but on ennobled cultural beaches;
- always wash your feet after walking.
Treatment features
If a flea does get bitten, you shouldn't treat its bite like a mosquito. If you find suspicious abscesses, seals on the skin, inflammatory heads, especially accompanied by pain, you must go to the hospital, where the flea will be removed. You cannot try to pull it out yourself, like an encephalitis tick, pouring oil on a flea. The flea's body is very fragile, it can break, and its particles remain in the wound, causing more and more suppuration.
For itching, you can use antihistamines and any pain relieving cream. The good old remedies are also good - a compress with soda.
It is important not to scratch the bites to prevent infection.
Sand flea under the skin (video)
There are over 2,000 flea species in total. Let's analyze the most famous ones.
Sand fleas: why their bites are dangerous
They cannot be seen with the naked eye, because the size of these flea beetles is only 1 mm. But, despite their tiny size, they poison our lives. Penetrating into the housing, the sand flea lives in the carpet or under the sofa.
Males bite imperceptibly, the itching from their bites disappears after a couple of days. Fertilized females need more than just human blood.
Female bites cause a terrible disease - sarcopsillosis.
The sand flea dissolves the skin with enzymes and is absorbed into the blood vessels. Symptoms of the disease do not appear immediately - only when there are about 200 eggs in the body, and the flea itself will increase in size.
These insects typically affect the nails, the area around the fingers, the buttocks, and the perineum. The bite looks like swollen redness, and a white abscess with a black dot appears in the middle. These black dots are the end of the flea belly, she breathes through it and removes waste.
The maturation period for eggs is about a week. Then the females get rid of them by shooting. Its size becomes much smaller, it dies, remaining in the wound. The larvae spread throughout the room. And because of the female corpse remaining in the wound, the epithelium rots, the disease progresses, and infection in the form of tetanus or gangrene can occur.
Also, sarcopsillosis causes deformation and amputation of the fingers, necrosis, thrombophlebitis, elephantiasis and various types of pneumonia.
Treatment and prevention
If you do not want to become a victim of these insects, then prevention will help you. There are a number of simple rules that you can follow to protect yourself from being bitten.
Prevention rules:
- Avoid walking barefoot in dangerous areas; wear socks and closed shoes.
- If you are traveling to one of the countries where sand fleas are common, then get the appropriate vaccinations and take insect repellent with you.
- It is necessary to observe hygiene of the body, and especially of the feet: rinse them with warm water after each walk.
An incredible number of animals can be found in Anapa, not only under water, but also under pebbles and even in the depths of the coastal sand. Raking up small pebbles with their hand, many more than once noticed the life teeming under it. The most noticeable and by no means useless creatures, they jump merrily and scurry if you pick up any stone on the beach. Meet, these are amphipods, an integral part of the wildlife of the Black Sea coast, which forms the basis of the diet of most fish and crabs. Let's take a closer look at them.
Appearance
Shrimp crustaceans belong to diverse-legged crayfish and this is easy to check by looking at the limbs of our inhabitant. The structure of each pair of legs of the crustacean is different and serves for various purposes, one might say the legs of the amphipod are one universal folding knife. The first pair with pseudo pincers is designed to hold and crush food, the next pair of legs is adapted for swimming, the other legs for running, well, where without legs for jumping. It is difficult to notice such a metamorphosis in the structure, because amphipods in Anapa reach a size of 5-10 millimeters. You will need a magnifying glass or microscope for a good examination.
Another feature of the micro-crustacean is the absence of the main shell, a shield protecting the body from above, all the protection of the boat is soft segments. The body of the crustacean is hunched over and compressed from the sides, so that it is more convenient to wade between the stones. In Anapa, you can find amphipods with a gray and brown tint, the protective coloring helps to protect yourself from predators. The life span of a small animal is one to two years.
Habits
The short life of the amphipod pushes the crustacean to active reproduction. The variety of local crustaceans has female and male representatives of the genus. As soon as the water temperature allows mating games to begin, the amphipods actively mate, and the couple can swim for a day, merging in ecstasy. At this time, the male transfers his seed to the bride into a special bag, where the eggs develop. In the same bag, babies grow up who leave the mother's womb after the first molt.
Local amphipods are beach attendants whose favorite food is animal carcasses and rotting seaweed. Food and other active life of the crustacean occurs at night. In the daytime, the sea is teeming with predators who are not averse to feasting on crustaceans, so at this time it is better to sit out in the ground or under pebbles.
Scientists who study the life of amphipods have discovered the unique ability of these tiny animals to orient themselves by light. Crustaceans have a well-developed "biological clock"; they know when day changes to night, according to the direction and intensity of light. Remembering in which direction the salt lick shines from the coast, the amphipods begin their movement towards the water.
The researchers found an interesting feature of sex distribution in young crustaceans. Experiments have shown that the sex of the new offspring of the amphipod closely depends on the water temperature in Anapa. If the development of fry occurs in cooler water, then male amphipods are born, if the water is warmer than the norm, wait for girls.
The locals call amphipods sea fleas. This name has stuck to harmless creatures due to their ability to jump. Sensing danger, small crustaceans begin to sharply contract and push off the ground with their paws, making a rapid acceleration. For tourists who are resting in Anapa, these flights reminded the life of an earthly bloodsucker, however, the amphipod is absolutely harmless to humans.
Where to see in Anapa.
The method for locating amphipods on the beach is very simple. On the pebble, you need to find a bunch of old algae. Having lifted the soft remains, the disturbed amphipods will immediately begin to rush and jump, feeling the danger, because the day for the amphibian is a time of rest. Usually, a small crustacean is used for bait when fishing is not the Black Sea fish.