The Deadliest Creatures

[distort303]

Real terror lurks in quiet darkness

As the archetypal bumper-sticker proclaims: "Being Paranoid Doesn't Mean that They Aren't Out to Get You." The world of the paranoiac is nothing but a teetering rock slide - impending destruction always hovering just a moment away. Some have suggested that a daily tablespoon full of this viewpoint can actually

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[kandi_panties]

Venom of the Stone Fish

Its dorsal area is lined with spines that release a venomous toxin. It is the most dangerous of known venomous fish and its venom causes severe pain with possible shock, paralysis, and tissue death depending on the depth of the penetration. This level can be fatal to humans if not given medical attention within a couple of hours. Immediate first aid treatment requires the immobilisation of venom at penetration site; depending on the depth of penetration this can be achieved either by firm constrictive bandaging or by a managed tourniquet sited between wound and proximal flexure.

The venom consists of a mixture of proteins, including the hemolytic stonustoxin, the neurotoxic trachynilysin and the cardioactive cardioleputin; an antivenin is available.

The venom is protein based, and it can be (partially) denatured by the application of a very hot compress to the injury site. Some relief can be gained from infiltrating the wound with a local anaesthetic. This is a temporary measure to reduce localized pain and shock. Medical help must be sought at the earliest opportunity. Typically, surviving victims suffer localized nerve damage occasionally leading to atrophy of adjoining muscle tissues.

There have been unproven reports of osteo-arthritic sufferers experiencing improved mobility and reduction in joint pain following envenomation episode. The responsible agent has not been identified.

The pain is said to be so bad that the victims of its sting want the affected limb to be amputated. The poisonous sting of Scorpion Fish and Lionfish are said to deliver the same level of pain.

Some of the information in this post is edited to make things a little worse than they are.

[threegoldfish]

Yeah, I swear that I had read a fish article recently that said something like there have been very, very few fatalities attributed to stonefish. Nastyass and extremely painful, but nothing quite so bad some of the other creatures listed. Google turns up this: Deaths from stonefish envenomation are rare. They are also difficult to actually confirm, with just five deaths reported. Three are documented, but difficult to prove conclusively: one at Mahé, Seychelles, and the other at Pinda, Mozambique and a third reported recently, when a SCUBA diver stepped on a stonefish underwater, panicked, and then ascended too rapidly, death occurring from arterial embolism, not envenomation (Kohama 1997, pers. com.). A death was reported from Japan prior to 1989 of a male trying to put a stonefish in a bag. He had four puncture marks and "fell down and was drowned". Another death was reported to have occurred on Thursday Island in 1915, several days' following envenomation, although the author believes the causative animal is in doubt.