One Linuche mystery solved: all 3 stages of the coronate scyphomedusa Linuche unguiculata cause seabather's eruption.
BACKGROUND
Seabather's eruption (SBE) is a highly pruritic dermatosis affecting swimmers and divers in marine waters off Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea. Its cause has been attributed to various organisms but recently to the larvae of the schyphomedusa, Linuche unguiculata.


OBJECTIVE
We attempted to determine whether immature and adult Linuche cause SBE.


METHODS
Episodes of SBE in the Cancun and Cozumel area of the Mexican Caribbean were evaluated during the season of high tourism (January-June). This time corresponds to the moments in the life cycle when the three swimming stages of L unguiculata-ephyrae, medusae, and larvae-can be sequentially observed. Our methods include (1) observations by divers, biologists, and students coinciding with stinging outbreaks and the onset of SBE; (2) serologic evaluation of individuals stung by L unguiculata; and (3) the demonstration of Linuche nematocysts on the affected skin.


RESULTS
All 3 swimming Linuche stages can cause SBE.


CONCLUSIONS
The offending stages of Linuche can be identified by the cutaneous lesion's morphology and the time of year.
Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Centro de Neurobiologia Campus-Juriquilla, Queretaro and Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnologia, Cancun, Q. Roo, Mexico.
L
L
Segura-Puertas
M E
ME
Ramos
C
C
Aramburo
E P
EP
Heimer De La Cotera
J W
JW
Burnett
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003064:Cnidarian Venoms / Q000506:poisoning*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008018:Life Cycle Stages; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011537:Pruritus / Q000209:etiology*; D037401:Scyphozoa / Q000254:growth & development; D012872:Skin Diseases, Vesiculobullous / Q000209:etiology*; D013550:Swimming
D003064:Cnidarian Venoms