72 DANGEROUS MARINE ANIMALS 



muddy bays. They are commonly seen burying themselves in the 

 soft sand or mud with only the head partially exposed. They may 

 dart out rapidly, and may strike an object with unerring accur- 

 acy with their cheek spines. When a weever is provoked, the dorsal 

 fin is instantly erected, and the gill covers expanded. Because of 

 their habit of concealment, aggressive attitude, and highly-devel- 

 oped venom apparatus, they constitute a real danger to any skin 

 diver working in their habitat. There are four species of weevers 

 which are commonly recognized, but only two of them are included 

 here. 



Species of Weeverfishes : 



Great Weever, Trachinus draco Linnaeus (Fig. 41, Top). Oc- 

 curs from Norway, British Isles, southward to the Mediterranean 

 Sea, and along the coast of North Africa. 



Lesser Weever, Trachinus vipera Cuvier (Fig. 41, Bottom). 

 Inhabits the North Sea, southward along the coast of Europe, and 

 Mediterranean Sea. 



Venom Apparatus of Weevers. The venom apparatus of the 

 weeverfish consists of the dorsal and opercular spines and their 

 associated glands (Fig. 42, Top). The dorsal spines vary from five 

 to seven in number. Each of the spines is enclosed within a thin- 

 walled sheath of skin from which protrudes a needle-sharp tip 

 (Fig. 42, Center). Removal of the sheath reveals a thin, elongate, 

 fusiform strip of whitish spongy tissue lying within the grooves, 

 near the tips, of each spine. This spongy tissue is the venom-pro- 

 ducing part of the spine. Removal of the skin covering the gill 

 cover shows a broad, compressed, "dagger-like" opercular spine 

 ending in a sharp tip (Fig. 42, Bottom) . Attached to the upper and 

 lower margins of the spine are the pear-shaped venom glands. 

 Weever venom has been found to act as both a neurotoxin and 

 hemotoxin, similar to some snake venoms. 



Medical Aspects. Weever wounds usually produce instant pain, 

 described as a burning, stabbing or "crushing" sensation— initially 

 confined to the immediate area of the wound, then gradually spread- 

 ing through the affected limb. The pain gets progressively worse 

 until it reaches an excruciating peak, generally within 30 minutes. 

 The severity is such that the victim may scream, thrash wildly 

 about, and lose consciousness. In most instances, morphine fails to 

 give relief. Untreated, the pain commonly subsides within 2 to 

 24 hours. Tingling, followed by numbness, finally develops about 



