The most poisonous fish in the world. Poisonous fish

Zebra lionfish

Zebra lionfish are predatory fish that live in the tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans - off the coast of China, Japan and Australia. They are one of the most beautiful fish in the world. Their body length is about 30 cm, weight reaches 1 kg. The lionfish has long ribbons of dorsal and pectoral fins, in which sharp, poisonous needles are hidden. The prick of this needle is very painful. Sharp pain is followed by deterioration of the condition, which ends in paralysis of the skeletal and respiratory muscles. If the victim is not immediately pulled to shore, he will drown.


Electric eel is a fish (despite its name) that inhabits rivers in the northeastern part South America, as well as tributaries of the Amazon. They are found in countries such as Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. The average length of adult individuals is 1–1.5 m; the largest known specimen reached almost three meters in length. Average weight - up to 20 kg (maximum - 45 kg). An electric eel is capable of generating a current discharge with a voltage of 300–650 V and a force of 0.1–1 A. Such voltage is not capable of killing a person, but will be very painful.


Great tiger fish - a species of large freshwater fish predatory fish, living in the central and West Africa, in the basin of the Congo and Lualaba rivers, as well as in lakes Upemba and Tanganyika. This fish grows up to 1.5 m in length and reaches a weight of 50 kg. Cases of large tiger fish attacking humans have been reported in the Congo. According to local residents, this is the only fish that is not afraid of crocodiles.


Bagarius yarrelli is a species of large fish found in the rivers of South Asia. Found in countries such as Bangladesh, India, China (Yunnan Province) and Nepal. It grows up to 2 m in length and weighs more than 90 kg. In three villages on the banks of the Sarda River in Nepal and India, between 1998 and 2007, cases of attacks by these fish on people were recorded, often resulting in death.


The sixth place in the list of the most dangerous fish is occupied by the Brown Snakehead - a species of large freshwater predatory fish that lives in the reservoirs of Vietnam, Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and India. They grow up to 1.3 meters in length and weigh up to 20 kg. They are quite voracious and aggressive. Prey is ambushed.


In fifth place on the list of the most dangerous fish in the world is the warty fish. sea ​​fish with poisonous spines on its back. The average length of the wart is 35–50 cm. It lives in coral reefs at depths of about 30 m in the Indian and Pacific oceans. It is considered the most poisonous fish in the world. Its venom causes severe pain, shock, paralysis and leads to tissue death. For humans, a large dose of poison can be fatal.



Piranha is a freshwater, predominantly predatory fish (more than 50 species) that lives in the rivers and reservoirs of South America. They reach a length of up to 30 cm and a weight of up to a kilogram. Approximately 30–35 species of piranha feed on aquatic plants and fruits that have fallen into the water, and 28–30 species are typical predators. They have powerful jaws with sharp teeth. They attack fish and other animals, including humans. The structure of the lower jaw and teeth allows the piranha to tear large pieces of meat from its prey. A school of piranhas can completely destroy an animal weighing about 50 kg in a few minutes.


The brown rocktooth is a species of marine fish from the pufferfish family. They live in marine and brackish waters of the northwestern Pacific Ocean. They grow up to 80 cm in length. Its insides (especially the liver and ovaries) are extremely poisonous and contain tetrodotoxin, which is deadly to humans even in small doses. Despite this, it is this fish that is most often prepared from a traditional dish Japanese cuisine - Fugu. Between 2004 and 2007, 15 people died and about 115 people were hospitalized after eating the delicacy.


The most dangerous fish in the world is the mackerel-shaped hydrolik or “vampire fish” - a species of predatory fish that lives in the Amazon and Orinoco river basins in Venezuela. They can grow up to 117 cm in length and weigh 17.8 kg. The most famous feature of the vampire fish is its aggressiveness and two long fangs protruding from its lower jaw. These fangs can reach a length of 10–15 cm. The mackerel-like hydrolik feeds on almost any fish that smaller in size, including piranhas and their own kind.

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Do you think blissful horror is the only feeling that the most poisonous fish in the world can evoke in a person? But no. Few gourmets or thrill-seekers will miss the opportunity to try a dish made from poisonous fugu. How dangerous is this creature, and what other representatives water world worthy of the title of most poisonous?

Fugu is Japanese name pufferfish family. This creature is also known as the fourtooth, dogfish and deathfish. Fugu organs contain poison that is 275 times more toxic than cyanide. Most of the dangerous substance is in the ovaries, liver and intestines of the animal. And although one fish may contain only a few tens of milligrams of poison, this is quite enough to kill 30 people.

As a result of tetrodotoxin entering the human body, there is a high risk of death. 60% of poisonings result in death. First comes paralysis, and then stops breathing. It is interesting that in this case the person feels not only numbness, but also narcotic euphoria.


Despite the sad statistics, fugu dishes are more than popular in Japan. However, before cooking fugu, the chef must obtain a license. In ancient times, licenses were not issued, but there was a law: if a client died, the cook committed ritual suicide.

Habitat. Subtropical and tropical waters. First of all, these are the basins of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. However, there are known cases of fugu being caught in the Black Sea.

Wart

This is the most poisonous fish in the Pacific Ocean. If you accidentally step on it, then without timely help, death is guaranteed. Despite its toxicity, wart meat is used in Japanese national cuisine. It is used to prepare sashimi, a dish made from fillets of various types of meat and fish.

The warty fish is easily confused with a coastal stone, which is why its second name is stone fish. The entire body of the fish is covered with warts and tubercles of various sizes. In addition to everything, it leads a sedentary lifestyle and stays in coastal waters. As a rule, it lies at the bottom, immersed in the ground, which makes the wart almost invisible. This is where its danger lies.


The wart is gifted with the ability to spray venom through the spines of its dorsal fin. Poisonous spines rise when the fish is irritated. The injection not only leads to acute pain, hallucinations and loss of consciousness, but also to disruption of the functioning of the nerve centers. If a large blood vessel is damaged, death is possible within 2 hours. But even if the worst consequences of poisoning can be avoided, a person can become disabled.

Habitat. Waters of the Red Sea, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Most often, warts can be encountered off the coast of India and Australia. Its favorite habitats are coral reefs, piles of rocks and thick algae.

This fish is easily recognized by its variegated color and long ribbon fins. Because of its expressive fins, it is also called lionfish and lionfish. These fins should never be touched; they contain toxic needles. Their poison remains strong even after the death of the fish. Unless you want to get a lightning shot, don't approach this fish from the side.


Just one injection can cause a person to lose consciousness or go into severe shock. Fatalities have not yet been recorded, however, poisoning from zebra fish is accompanied by convulsions and impaired heart function. In addition, gangrene may develop in the puncture area. The pain from the injection lasts for several hours.

Habitat. Waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. This includes the coastal areas of Japan, China and Australia, as well as the Red Sea basin. The lionfish lives among coral atolls.

From the name it is not difficult to guess that this is a predator. The dragon prefers to dive into sandy soil, leaving only its dorsal fin and head visible. The spines of the fish's fin complement the poisonous glands. The dragon can easily be confused with the Black Sea goby.


Large dragons that are poisoned mainly occur due to careless handling. For example, fishermen often get pricked when removing a dragon from a net, and you can also accidentally step on this fish. The dragonet's injection is not fatal, but can cause piercing pain and necrosis of the damaged area. In the worst case, paralysis or respiratory distress is possible. The poison remains dangerous for several days after the death of the fish.

Habitat. The large dragonet is common in the waters of the Black and Baltic seas. It lives in both deep and shallow waters.

This aquatic inhabitant has earned the nickname “ugly fish.” The reason for this is not the most attractive appearance. The toad fish has no scales; its entire body is covered with unsightly growths and poisonous spines. During spawning, it is capable of making sounds comparable to the noise of a subway.


The pain from being pricked by the thorn of a toad fish is reminiscent of the sensation caused by the sting of a scorpion. Then a tumor appears and the temperature rises. No fatalities as a result of the toadfish's poison have yet been recorded.

Habitat. Waters of Central and South America. Poisonous toadfish live in reefs and crevices under rocks. They have a habit of burrowing into soft bottoms.

The very name of this sea fish hints at its toxicity. It comes from the name "scorpion fish". This creature can hardly be called cute, but few can compare with it in its unusualness. Their rich color makes them invisible against the backdrop of the colorful coral atoll, which greatly increases the risk of an unexpected collision with this fish.

The body of the scorpionfish is strewn with spines, from which poisonous mucus comes out. The injection will cause severe pain, which increases over time and may result in loss of consciousness. Scorpion poison provokes pulmonary edema, lowers blood pressure and leads to numbness. These symptoms may last for several days, but deaths are extremely rare. At the same time, meat freed from thorns can be safely used for cooking.

Habitat. Water Mediterranean Sea And Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa and Europe. The named fish can be found off the coast of the Philippines, Thailand and even in the Black Sea. Scorpionfish live in shelf zones and shallow waters of coral atolls.

Following the example of its relatives, the stingray tries to stick to the bottom. Here he buries himself in the sand or hides in piles of stones. If he is unintentionally disturbed, he is likely to attack. The spikes located on the tail are armed with poisonous glands. In this case, one should take into account the large “piercing” force of the tail strike itself. Interestingly, the aborigines of Malaysia used stingray spines as arrowheads.


Both scuba divers and ordinary swimmers can become victims of stingrays. After the injection, sharp pain and swelling appear. This is followed by diarrhea, loss of consciousness and convulsions. Lesions to the extremities can be cured after a few days, while an injection into the stomach or chest can be fatal.

Habitat. Stingrays are common in the seas of temperate and tropical latitudes. Most often they stay on a sandy or muddy bottom.

Despite the fact that sea snakes belong to the class of reptiles, they lead an aquatic lifestyle, which means they can be included in our list. These are dangerous and very unpredictable animals up to 4 meters long. They should never be touched or teased.


The venom of the sea snake is dominated by a substance that paralyzes the nervous system. When attacking, the snake strikes with two teeth. Unlike a sting from a poisonous fish, a sea snake bite will not cause severe pain. However, after a certain time, coordination is impaired, obvious weakness and convulsions appear. In the absence of qualified assistance, death can occur within 7 hours. According to statistics, 7 out of ten people survive.

Habitat. Pacific Sea and Indian Oceans. They usually stay near shores and river mouths.

According to scientists, the ocean is home to at least 2 million species of organisms, of which no more than 200 thousand have been described. This means that the above list does not include all the poisonous inhabitants of the ocean. Many of them are unknown even to the most scrupulous researchers. This fact once again proves that danger can lurk at every step.

Video

The seas and oceans of our planet are home to many different poisonous creatures. and fish are no exception here. There are also poisonous creatures among fish. Some fish have poison that can be fatal to humans. It is difficult to single out the most poisonous fish among them. Here are some fish that are deadly to humans.

Scorpionfish live in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the Australian continent. Scorpion fish are considered one of the most poisonous fish. The color of this fish varies greatly. It camouflages itself with the color of the bottom surrounding it. On the back of the scorpionfish there are many strong and sharp spines with poisonous glands at their base.

As soon as you step on a scorpion fish, the spines dig into the leg and the poison enters the person. If a person is not helped immediately, death is possible. And it is very easy to step on a scorpionfish, because it lives near the shore in shallow water.

The warm tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans are home to another of the most poisonous fish. This is a stone fish. This fish is also called warty fish. Its body is not smooth, it is covered with processes of various sizes. The stone fish lives on the bottom.

It is very difficult to spot this fish in the water. Stonefish are often covered with sand. Sometimes algae even grows on it. It fully lives up to its name - it looks like a stone with algae. The dorsal fin of this fish has poisonous spines.

A person who steps on a stone fish will receive a fair amount of poison. This poison causes tissue damage and death. Very quickly the affected area spreads throughout the body, causing paralysis and then death. Stonefish mainly live in the depths, but are sometimes found near the shores.

But the fugo fish is considered the most dangerous. And not even because its poison is more dangerous than that of other fish. Simply because its meat is considered a delicacy. And among the residents, especially South-East Asia and Japan, it is very popular. Improperly prepared fugo fish kills more than one thousand inhabitants of planet Earth every year.

Fugo fish is also called rocktooth. It is in her hard and sharp teeth that there is poison. You cannot handle this, one of the most dangerous fish, without gloves. Her skin also has poisonous effect. In many countries it is prohibited from being sold freely. But thanks to the fact that there are people who like to play hide and seek with death, it is caught for food.

After catching the fish, the poisonous teeth are immediately removed. Not every cook can cook fugo fish. The cook must undergo special, long-term training before preparing fugo fish on his own. During an exam, for example in Japan, he must himself eat the dishes he has prepared.

The warty fish, or stone fish (family Synanceia), is the most poisonous sea fish and one of the most dangerous creatures in the world.

If you accidentally step on her, she will easily kill you by injecting poison deep into your leg. Without immediate qualified help, wart poison is fatal. According to eyewitnesses, the pain from stonefish poison is so severe that its victims often beg to have their leg amputated.

This video shows how this simple biological death machine works.

So if you travel to Australia, keep an eye out for these killers. They will hide from you in the sand or disguise themselves as bottom stones. Keep in mind that a wart can survive for another 24 hours even if removed from the water.

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Stone fish can grow up to 50 centimeters. It has a large head with small eyes and a large mouth, in which the lower jaw easily protrudes forward. Her entire body is covered with warts and bumps. Actually, that’s why it got its second name. On the back there are fins equipped with 12 poisonous spines.

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The wart leads an inactive lifestyle. She spends a lot of time waiting for her prey ( small fish, shrimp and other crustaceans), buried in sand or soil. From above, only the upper part of the head and the back remain visible, to which various blades of grass stick. This makes the fish even more invisible. Which, in fact, is the danger.

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If a person accidentally steps on or touches it, then he has every chance of being stung by sharp poisonous thorns. Wart venom is deadly to humans. Ordinary swimmers' shoes will not protect against its sharp and hard spikes. If a person does not seek medical help immediately, he may die.

A wart injection causes severe pain and prolonged pain, tetanus and even death after 1-3 days. The wart inflicts its injection amazingly quickly and people sometimes don’t even notice the fish. Painful sensations occur immediately and can cause painful shock, loss of consciousness or hallucinations. In the first minutes after the injection, a person’s heart may stop or paralysis may occur. If the amount of poison was not lethal, then the area around the wound quickly turns blue, a tumor appears that quickly spreads throughout the affected limb. Full recovery is possible only after several months. But even if doctors managed to eliminate the main consequences of poisoning, the victim may remain disabled for the rest of his days.

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Found in the Red Sea and the Indian and Pacific oceans. Largest clusters These predators are found off the coast of India, New Guinea, the islands of Samoa and St. Mauritius.

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But since it is a fish, someone eats it. Dishes made from stonefish meat are popular in China and Japan, where sushi called " okose" Aquarists also quite successfully keep them in captivity, since the fish is not demanding of its habitat, and can even live on land for almost a whole day. And it only grows up to 30-40 cm. The maximum recorded length of the wart was 51 cm.

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The effect of stonefish poison

The venom causes severe pain with possible shock, paralysis and tissue death. If the thorn gets into a large blood vessel, then death can occur within 2-3 hours. Recovery takes a long time. You should be especially careful in Egypt and Thailand. More often than not, this is where the most people suffer from these fish. You will see how this happens in the video.

October 08, 2013

Appearance warts

A naked, cold body, no scales, brownish-brown color, with light stripes and spots, all completely covered with warts and bumps, and hard, sharp spines sticking out of the spinal ridge up and to the sides, secreting a deadly poison.

This is what the most poisonous fish in the world looks like - the stone fish, whose name is also tubercle or wart. The title of the most poisonous fish is not its only title - it can also be considered the most frightening and ugliest sea animal. This fish is small, only 15-20 cm in length, with a disproportionately huge head compared to the body, tiny inconspicuous eyes, which are covered with an overhanging warty eyelid. The picture is completed by a huge mouth with a large lower jaw protruding forward.

The power of the poison of a small fish

If a person accidentally steps on a stone fish or finds himself in close proximity to it, it will immediately plunge the poisonous sharp spines of its fins into him. Venom glands are located at their very base. The venom of tubercle is extremely toxic. There were cases when a particularly severe attack by this poison led to the death of the injured person just a few minutes after the poison entered the blood. The habitats of the warty fish are the Red Sea to the Great Barrier Reef, Pacific Ocean and the islands of northern Australia, as well as the waters of Indonesia, the Philippine and Marshall Islands.

Local residents, familiar firsthand with the power of the poison of this small fish, call it a warty vampire. Those people who miraculously managed to survive after being struck by its poison, as a rule, remain more or less disabled. After all, the poison of the stone fish is dangerous because it is not just poisonous, but has a detrimental effect on the central nervous system and kills red blood cells in the blood. There is no antidote that provides a 100% guarantee against the effects of this poison, and a person who steps on this fish still has hope of surviving, but remaining disabled.

Perfect disguise

This carnivorous fish lives in shallow water, masquerading as stones and corals, and the greatest danger is that the tide often throws fish onto the beaches, where they remain lying, sprinkled with sand or masquerading as stones in the puddles left after the tide. This fish really looks very similar to an old wave-eaten piece of coral or stone, and it is very difficult to notice. Most often, swimmers stumble upon it with their bare feet. A terrible pain immediately occurs in the affected limb, which is accompanied by an instantly formed bluish tumor, the person has difficulty breathing, and painful shock also often occurs. More than half of cases of poisoning with this poison lead to death. Survivors spend long, agonizing months of their lives in bed.

How to neutralize poison?

In the famous American film " Blue Lagoon"A collision with this particular fish almost cost the life of the main character. The wart is a quiet hunter, it leads an inactive life as an observer, and almost all the time it lies hidden in corals or sprinkled its body with sand in anticipation of prey. Shrimp, crabs, crustaceans and others small crustaceans serve as its food.When, waiting for its victims, the wart spends long hours, half buried in the ground, sea grass carried by the current clings to its deadly needles, it is covered with sand, which makes it even more invisible - and therefore even more dangerous for people . Wart venom is a mixture of proteins, including hemolytic stonustoxin, neurotoxin and cardioactive cardiolectin. Like any other protein-based poison, it can be neutralized by immediately applying a very hot compress to the wound. Relief can also be obtained by applying local anesthesia to the affected limb.

Typically, those who are left alive by the poisonous fish subsequently suffer from muscle tissue atrophy, which occurs when the nerve is locally damaged. Medical assistance to the victim must be provided immediately.