|
-- B i t e s a n d s t i n g s --
click on the question number for the answer |
||
| Q 1. | ||
| Do moray eels have a poisonous bite? |
||
| Q 2. | ||
| While reading a book recently I came across a description of a fish which the author called the Synanceja verrucosa, a very ugly fish resembling the stone fish of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The author further stated that the fish was not more than 1 foot in length, but a man pricked by an adult individual would die after a few minutes in atrocious agony. He further said this fish is found all over the Indian and Pacific oceans. Is there such a fish that will kill in minutes and is this the stone fish or a related fish? |
||
| Q 3. | ||
| What is the name of the beetle in Florida's seas that bothers bathers? |
||
| Q 4. | ||
| Are any fish poisonous in the way that a snake is poisonous? |
||
| Q 5. | ||
| I have been hearing much discussion about the poisonous qualities of sea snakes and would like some accurate information. Are sea snakes poisonous, and where are they found? |
||
| Q 6. | ||
| While snorkeling off Puerto Scuda, Sardinia, I observed a sand-colored fish 10 inches long, with black markings, and an angular mouth lying on the sandy bottom. When I dove for a closer look, the fish made a rush at me and hit me in the chest with a barb protruding from the top of its head. Within 30 minutes, I experienced excruciating pain that went away by the next morning, leaving a large swollen area. Can you identify the fish? |
||
| Q 7. | ||
| Which cone shells are capable of biting, and perhaps killing, humans, and in what areas are these animals likely to be encountered? Also, are there other potentially dangerous univalved shells? |
||
| Q 8. | ||
| A crew member on my boat was a bit careless when boating a wahoo, and the fish bit the calf of his leg. At the hospital where the wound was sutured, the doctor asked for the head of the wahoo so that it could be checked for rabies. Do fishes get rabies? |
||
| Q 9. | ||
| When visiting the Florida Keys last summer, I found the bites of no-see-ums to be worse than those of mosquitoes. What exactly are these pests, and is there any way to control them? |
||
| Q 10. | ||
| In waist-deep water off Pompano Beach, Florida, something feeling like sharp razors bit the top of my left foot and left an imprint of parallel rows of needlelike punctures. The water was murkier and rougher than usual, with batches of seaweed tumbling in it. Could my attacker have been a shark? |
||
| Q 11. | ||
| Are squids venomous? Are they poisonous? |
||
| Q 12. | ||
| Some time ago, Sea Frontiers included an article about the deadly blue-ringed octopus. Has an antidote to this octopus's venom been developed yet? |
||
| Q 13. | ||
| Twice our boat has been massively invaded by so-called blind mosquitoes. The first time was in May 1989 at about 4 a.m. while we were anchored a few hundred yards off-shore just above Palatka, Florida in the St. Johns River. Their coming sounded like swarming bees and woke us. There were hundreds of thousands of them. Even when hosed off at Saint Augustine, they would return just to our boat. The second time was in August 1989 early in the morning shortly after leaving a North Carolina port. This time there seemed to be two varieties, one the usual, the other smaller and more fIylike. Again the number was vast, and the insects were difficult to remove. I have enclosed samples of each kind of insect, preserved in Scotch. Can you identify them? |
||
| Q&A 1. | Do moray eels have a poisonous bite? |
||
| None of the local species are poisonous, although at least one form from the Pacific and Indian oceans is reported to be mildly poisonous. The green moray, (Gymnothorax runibris), and the spotted moray, (G. moringa), are the two largest local species, and both are noted for their aggressive disposition when captured or molested. The wounds caused by the sharp teeth of both these species easily become infected due to the amount of bacteria-laden slime in the mouth. |
|||
| go back to Questions |
|||
| Q&A 2. | While reading a book recently I came across a description of a fish which the author called the Synanceja verrucosa, a very ugly fish resembling the stone fish of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The author further stated that the fish was not more than 1 foot in length, but a man pricked by an adult individual would die after a few minutes in atrocious agony. He further said this fish is found all over the Indian and Pacific oceans. Is there such a fish that will kill in minutes and is this the stone fish or a related fish? Baton Rouge, Lousiana |
||
| There is indeed a fish called the stone fish (Synanceja verrucosa), distributed from the Indian Ocean shores of Africa through the various island groups to Australia. Its toxicity varies somewhat from region to region but there are several recorded instances of it having killed men. The stone fish is a relative of the scorpionfishes, and its venom apparatus is associated with the dorsal fin spines so that when the fish is trod upon the poison is automatically injected into the wound caused by the spines. |
|||
| go back to Questions |
|||
| Q&A 3. | What is the name of the beetle in Florida's seas that bothers bathers? Daytona Beach, Florida |
||
| So far as is known there is no marine beetle in Florida's waters. There are two shore animals that might cause a foot injury to bathers. One of these is the sand flea and the other the young of blue crabs, both of which are crustacea, that might bite or puncture the skin. However, both are well known and the sand flea by repute is harmless. There is also a little tubular drifting mollusk, Creseis, which has a needle-sharp point to its shell. This animal has been known to puncture the skin under bathing suits but has never been known to injure a foot. There are other crustacea, sea lice so called, that might cause skin irritation. |
|||
| go back to Questions |
|||
| Q&A 4. | Are any fish poisonous in the way that a snake is poisonous? Bradenton, Florida |
||
| No marine fish is poisonous in a manner comparable to a poisonous snake. Various fishes have poisonous spines or poisonous glands associated with other structures on their body. Other fishes have poisonous flesh or poisonous internal organs which may cause severe illness or death when eaten. None, however, has poisonous glands in the mouth associated with a fang-like injection apparatus. There are, of course, numerous sea snakes in the Indo-Pacific region which are related to cobras and are quite poisonous. |
|||
| go back to Questions |
|||
| Q&A 5. | I have been hearing much discussion about the poisonous qualities of sea snakes and would like some accurate information. Are sea snakes poisonous, and where are they found? Largo, Florida |
||
| These animals are very venomous. Close relatives of cobras and coral snakes, they have a powerful poison which acts upon the nervous system. However, because of the small size of their teeth, sea snakes must obtain a good grip and chew to inject the poison. Moreover, sea snakes are not generally aggressive, as is the case with their relatives the cobras, and are not normally considered a serious danger. There are several species of sea snakes, all but one of them completely aquatic, distributed in the tropical parts of the Indian and Pacific oceans as far east as the Galapagos Islands and the Pacific coast from Mexico to Ecuador. |
|||
| go back to Questions |
|||
| Q&A 6. | While snorkeling off Puerto Scuda, Sardinia, I observed a sand-colored fish 10 inches long, with black markings, and an angular mouth lying on the sandy bottom. When I dove for a closer look, the fish made a rush at me and hit me in the chest with a barb protruding from the top of its head. Within 30 minutes, I experienced excruciating pain that went away by the next morning, leaving a large swollen area. Can you identify the fish? Camp Lejeune, North Carolina |
||
| The fish that stung you was one of the weaverfishes, Trachinus spp., and probably was the lesser weaver, Trachinus vipera, a species common on sandy bottoms from the North Sea throughout the Mediterranean. These fish are very aggressive and can accurately aim and attack with their poisonous spines, one on each gill cover and several along the dorsal fin. The toxin flows from poison glands through these hollow spines and into the wound. Its effect is both neurotoxic and hemotoxic and is both excruciatingly painful and occasionally deadly. There is, unfortunately, as yet no known antidote. There are four species of weaver fish, all dangerous-three along the European coast and one off Chile. For.further information, see Dangerous Marine Animals by Bruce W. Halstead (Cornell Maritime Press, Cambridge, Maryland, 1959). |
|||
| go back to Questions |
|||
| Q&A 7. | Which cone shells are capable of biting, and perhaps killing, humans, and in what areas are these animals likely to be encountered? Also, are there other potentially dangerous univalved shells? Loch Raven, Maryland |
||
| All cone shells are poisonous, but only the fish-eating species, with strong neurotoxic venoms, are deadly to humans. Three South Pacific and Indian Ocean species, the geography cone (Conus geographus), the tulip cone (C. tulipa), and the streaked cone (C. striatus), are all known to have caused human fatalities. These species are common in shallow water on coral reefs. Other Indo-Pacific species, such as Eldred's cone (C. eldredi), the magician cone (C. magus), and the cat cone (C. cat us), are also fish-eaters and are potentially dangerous. The textile or tent cone group, including the common textile cone (C. textile), the court cone (C. aulicus), and the episcopal cone (C. episcopus), was previously thought to be deadly to humans. Recent ecological and toxicological studies, however, have shown these cones to be mollusk-eaters with low-potency venoms. (Unknowingly, people have often confused the deadly geography cone with the relatively harmless textile cones.) Most other cones are worm-eaters with weak venoms, and their bites are said to resemble bee stings. In the Florida and Caribbean area, only one species, the agate or tortoise cone (C. ermineus), is known to be a fish-eater and, thus, is potentially deadly. Fortunately, this cone is uncommon and prefers less accessible deeper areas on the outer reefs.Only two other groups of gastropods are capable of toxic bites: the auger shells (family Terebridae) and the turret shells (family Turridae). These univalved mollusks are common in shallow, sandy areas in tropical seas around the world. Although possessing harpoonlike radular teeth similar to the cones, their venoms are weak and the tooth structure is relatively undeveloped. As far as is known, there have been no reports of bites to humans from auger or turret shells. |
|||
| go back to Questions |
|||
| Q&A 8. | A crew member on my boat was a bit careless when boating a wahoo, and the fish bit the calf of his leg. At the hospital where the wound was sutured, the doctor asked for the head of the wahoo so that it could be checked for rabies. Do fishes get rabies? Lighthouse Point, Florida |
||
| No. Only warm-blooded animals are susceptible to infection with rabies virus, and the susceptibility varies widely from species to species. According to "Rabies," Scientific American, January 1980, skunks, opossums, and fowl are relatively resistant, but foxes, cats, and cattle are highly susceptible. Human beings and dogs occupy ah intermediate position. |
|||
| go back to Questions |
|||
| Q&A 9. | When visiting the Florida Keys last summer, I found the bites of no-see-ums to be worse than those of mosquitoes. What exactly are these pests, and is there any way to control them? Maryland Heights, Missouri |
||
| No-see-ums, also known as punkies and sand flies, are minute, almost microscopic (0.02 to 0.2 inch) gnats of the family Ceratopogonidae. Like their relatives the mosquitoes, the females of some species are bloodsuckers. Their bites may cause itching and welts. Secondary infections sometimes result from scratching. Various nematodes, protozoans, and viruses may also be transmitted in their bites, and some species are responsible for transmitting diseases among livestock. The persistence of some nonbiting species in crawling into the eyes, ears, and nose may be just as annoying as the bites of the bloodsucking species. Unfortunately, no-see-ums are immune to most insect repellents and sprays and are small enough to pass through screening. When in areas inhabited by these gnats, one should wear long pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Biting may be prevented by impregnating clothing made of loosely woven fabric with Cutter Insect Repellent or Florida Swamp Insect Repellent. Limited protection inside buildings and tents may be provided by applying Screen-Pruf by Protexall to screens. In small enclosed areas, aerosol sprays containing pyrethrins or allethrin may be somewhat effective. Rubbing alcohol, calamine lotion, or hydrocortisone cream may aid in relieving the itch of bites. The key to controlling these pests is eliminating the moist habitats needed by their larvae. Depending on the species, no-see-um larvae may be aquatic or semiaquatic, living in salt, fresh, or brackish waters. They also can be found in moist soil habitats such as salt marshes and mangrove swamps; decaying materials such as cactus, banana, or plantain stems; moist or muddy adobe; cattle dung pats; and piled mud from dredging. In these places, they are buried in the rich organic material upon which they feed. The entire cycle from the larval to the adult stage is completed within 25 days. Proper irrigation with controlled flooding and draining have proved effective in Florida and Panama in combating no-see-ums. Periodic flooding drowns many larvae and makes the remainder more accessible to larger aquatic insectivores, while draining simply reduces available moist areas. Aerial spraying is generally impractical and not recommended, due to the vast areas involved and the rapidity with which the areas can be reinfested after the spray has dissipated. It can also backfire by killing other insects that naturally feed on no-see-um larvae, thus necessitating continued spraying. |
|||
| go back to Questions |
|||
| Q&A 10. | In waist-deep water off Pompano Beach, Florida, something feeling like sharp razors bit the top of my left foot and left an imprint of parallel rows of needlelike punctures. The water was murkier and rougher than usual, with batches of seaweed tumbling in it. Could my attacker have been a shark? Virginia Beach, Virginia |
||
| From your description, the bite was most likely from one of the larger needlefishes, probably the houndfish (Tylosurus crocodilus). These fishes possess the needlelike teeth necessary to produce such a wound and are common in the type of environment in which you were wading. There, they strike at passing fishes with lightninglike speed. Possibly, because the speed of the strike is so essential to their success, needlefishes will often strike at virtually any moving object. It is not unlikely that one of these fishes mistook your foot for a fish among the seaweed. As for other possibilities, from your description of the wound, the bite was definitely not from a shark, nor from a barracuda which leaves a knifelike cut, nor from a bluefish which leaves a jagged wound. |
|||
| go back to Questions |
|||
| Q&A 11. | Are squids venomous? Are they poisonous? Lynn, Massachusetts |
||
| In general, no. Squids kill their prey by biting it, not by poisoning it. Other cephalopods, however, can inject a venom from their salivary glands. Squids have similar salivary glands, but they are relatively small, and there is no direct evidence that the saliva contains any toxins. Squids, like all cephalopods, should be handled with care. The painful bite of a sharp beak may be aggravated by localized allergic reactions to the saliva. To the best of our knowledge, the only reports of a squid being poisonous to eat involve OmmastrePhes sloani pacificus caught in a restricted area of the Japan Sea. Between 1952 and 1955, in summer months, ten deaths were attributed to poisoning from this species, according to American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 6(5):935-939; 1957. There is no known explanation for this toxicity. |
|||
| go back to Questions |
|||
| Q&A 12. | Some time ago, Sea Frontiers included an article about the deadly blue-ringed octopus. Has an antidote to this octopus's venom been developed yet? Honolulu, Hawaii |
||
| No. The venom of the blue-ringed octopus (Octopus maculosa, formerly Hapalochiaena maculosa) has been identified as the neurotoxin tetrodotoxin, for which no antidote is known. The chances of survival for an unfortunate human victim depend on the amount of venom injected by the painless bite. As discussed in "Venomous Octopus," Sea Frontiers, November-December 1970, death is due to respiratory failure. Since the onset of paralysis is rapid, adequate and prolonged artificial respiration is the immediate life-saving treatment. O. maculosa is the first species in which tetrodotoxin has been found in extracts of venom glands. The poison is known to occur in skin, muscle, liver, ovaries, and eggs in other species of animals, ranging from starfish to trumpet shells, fish, and frogs. The blue-ringed octopus is common in shallow, inshore waters off Australia and is found throughout the Indo-Malaysian archipelago. This small, colorful cephalopod may be imported by tropical-fish dealers for use by medical researchers. It should never be considered for home aquariums. |
|||
| go back to Questions |
|||
| Q&A 13. | Twice our boat has been massively invaded by so-called blind mosquitoes. The first time was in May 1989 at about 4 a.m. while we were anchored a few hundred yards off-shore just above Palatka, Florida in the St. Johns River. Their coming sounded like swarming bees and woke us. There were hundreds of thousands of them. Even when hosed off at Saint Augustine, they would return just to our boat. The second time was in August 1989 early in the morning shortly after leaving a North Carolina port. This time there seemed to be two varieties, one the usual, the other smaller and more fIylike. Again the number was vast, and the insects were difficult to remove. I have enclosed samples of each kind of insect, preserved in Scotch. Can you identify them? New Smyrna Beach, Florida |
||
| The insects that confronted you at Palatka were not mosquitoes; they were mostly male midges in the family Chironomidae. There are numerous species, many of which are found in mangrove areas. The males form large mating swarms to attract the females. The swarm normally makes a humming sound-the attractant for the female. Midges require a marker to keep the swarm together. Your boat was apparently the marker. These midges do not bite. The flylike insects that invaded your boat in North Carolina waters were black flies in the family Simuliidae. Black-fly larvae require running fresh water to survive. The larvae attach to aquatic vegetation, sticks, stones, etc. and feed by filtering microorganisms from the currents. The adult females are blood-feeders and can inflict a painful bite. They have a habit of crawling on one's face, biting around the eyes, and entering the ears. These insects were probably attracted to you for a blood meal. |
|||
| go back to Questions |
|||
|
|
|||
|
Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science Library
University of Miami, FL USA 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, Florida 33149 Phone: 305 421 4060 Fax: 305 421 9306 E-mail: libcirc@rsmas.miami.edu |
 |
go to the top |
|