[Dermatotoxicity caused by Chrysaora hysoscella. Presentation of a case].

Chrysaora hysoscella L. rarely occurs in coastal waters of the Adriatic sea and is usually considered an innocuous jellyfish. In June 1989, P.D.N., a 29 year old healthy female, biologist at the Marine Biology Laboratory of Trieste, treated some samples of Chrysaora hysoscella captured that day. She took the animals from the transport tanks and cut the tentacles and oral arms from their bell. About ten minutes later she felt itching and burning of her hands, especially the right one. Twenty minutes later erythematous and slightly edematous lesions appeared on her fingers. These lesions spontaneously disappeared in about 2 hours. We decided to test Chrysaora hysoscella dermotoxicity on healthy volunteers by cutting a Chrysaora hysoscella tentacle and placing it on a gauze soaked in a solution of 3% NaCl and applying then to the volar side of the right wrist for one minute. Both volunteers presented itching and burning within forty seconds of contact. Three minutes later erythematous and vesicular lesions appeared on the sting site. To the best of our knowledge this is the second reported but first documented report of the dermotoxic effect of Chrysaora hysoscella. We underline that the absence of other previous reports may be due to both the relative rarity of this jellyfish and to the fact that people often confuses Chrysaora hysoscella with other more common jellyfish.