Lionfish Sting

[JR]

Lionfish Sting

One of the top ten ornamental marine fish kept in the US is the Lionfish. Exotic is what one see when viewing this beauty. Fins like no other, inquisitive interaction with those that watch it, disease resistant and fun to feed, it?s no wonder Lionfish are popular. The ability to sting probably weighs in there somewhere also!

The spines are used purely as a defensive mechanism. A lionfish when attacked will lower its head and fan out its dorsal fin rays to present a formidable target. The dorsal rays along with the pelvic and anal spines are the spines with the venom. These rays contain a venom gland at their base where the toxins are created. A duct along the spine running from the sac to the tip of the spine delivers the bad stuff. So when a spine punctures an attacker, a loose sheath of skin covering the spine is pushed down along the spine. This action causes the venom gland to be compressed at the base of the spine and the venom is forced upward through the ductwork and into the attacker.

In humans, the venom can cause extreme pain, sweating, and respiratory distress. In severe cases lionfish venom can cause swelling, paralysis, heart attack and even death. Much depends on the person's allergic reaction to the chemicals in the venom. By far the most commonly reported symptom is pain lasting 15 to 20 minutes. The venom has been shown to breakdown into less harmful chemicals with the addition of heat. So those that have been stung have found relief in soaking the wound site in hot water (100-110 degrees F).

In the home aquarium the most common time an owner could come into contact with their lionfish is when changing water. Be sure to always know where the lionfish is during the cleaning and never corner one! Always allow the lionfish to have room to move away from the site being cleaned. With a little care the Beast in the Beauty will never be seen. A friend sent me this

[Frank The Plumber]

I can relate a story to this:
The venom of a lion fish is a protein based toxin. In the event of a lion fish hit as I used to call them, an immediate application of Bo Peep liquid ammonia to the wound will slow if not stop the transfer of the toxin into the blood stream. This will coagulate the poison much like an egg yolk gets cooked. I have been hit twice by Volitians, once by an Atlantic Rock fish, and once by a short fin type of dwarf lion fish. The one Volitian was a big fish and the spine really carved me up. I put a gauze onto the area applied the ammonia to the wound and placed my arm into a bucket of fairly hot water as suggested. Be aware that they have not much of a clue as to what to do for you at the EMt level so be prepared and if you are allergic to bees, you might not want a lion, a fox face or any other stinging type of fish. Some of the anemones will tear you up bad too.

And another ordeal:
I once had an encounter with a Blue Ring Octopus. Not knowing what it really was I held one in the flat of my hand much as you would palm a tarantula, which I have also been tagged by, yippie. Fingers flat and away from the animal so as to make it feel it is on a surface and not being held. This thing pulsed and signaled like crazy and I put it carefully into a bag and purchased it. I took it to my shop and placed it into a reef tank in the front of the shop. Several days later I recieved a call of urgency from the wholesaler stating that I had purchased a blue ring. I almost passed out. And then I went to the tank to find the "ring" missing. We never found it, although I suspect an employee fell in love with it and took it home.

A blue ring has a very different toxin vehicle, it is a tissue destroying toxin much like a green mamba snake, it is fast and immediate and highly concentrated. If hit by a "ring" you have 30 to 90 seconds before massive coronary hemorage. As far as I know you are not going to make it.  All I could think about was how that thing was flashing all of those colors in the palm of my hand. I sorta stopped buying little octopi after that day.

[Mugwump]

A good tale, Frank.....I'm overly cautious on fish, and animals, that I know nothing about...As Steve the Croc guy found out..the most innocent looking creatures, are the most dangerous...

[b125killer]

Wow Frank I'm glade you didn't take a hit from the blue ring. I'm a little surprised that they can sell such a deadly creature. I was reading that they don't live that long in an aquarium. a matter of a few weeks. If you did do everything right there life span is less than a year. Plus there is no antivenom. Not that it would matter with a few minutes to live.   

[Frank The Plumber]

45 to 60 seconds and boom gone.