Photos by Guido Zsilavecz
Catching an agile super klipfish juvenile (Clinus superciliosus) may not seem to be the easiest thing to do for a box jellyfish (Carybdea alata), but with four virtually translucent tentacles which can be at least 70cm long trailing behind it, this photo is proof it can be done. Klipfish like the super klipfish often live in kelp fronds, and swim from one to the next. In doing so it may have to cross a sandy area, which is where the box jellyfish congregate, and thus swim into a tentacle. This is even more possible at night, when the jellyfish seem to extend their tentacles the most. The stinging cells in the jellyfishes' tentacles would have fired immediately on impact by the fish, and the quick motion of retracting the tentacle would have ensured the jellyfish of a good meal. As can be seen on the detailed photo the jellyfish is still holding the fish in its tentacle, which it retracted right into the bell.
Smiths' Sea Fishes, MM Smith and PC Heemstra, 1986.
Two Oceans, a guide to the marine life of Southern Africa, GM Branch, CL Griffiths, ML Branch and LE Beckley, 1994.
Coastal fishes of the Cape Peninsula and False Bay, a divers' identification guide, G Zsilavecz, 2005.