VENOMOUS ANIMALS AND THEIR TOXINS — RUSSELL 479 



Table 2. — Some venomous aquatic animals of the world — Continued 



Echinodermata : 



Sea urchins, Diadma setosum and Toxopneustcs pilcolus 

 Fishes : 



Stingrays, all species, particularly XJrolopTius lialleri 



Scorpionfishes, all species, particularly the stonefish Synafweja horrida and 



the lionfish Pterois volitans 

 Toadfishes (Barchatus), surgeonfishes (Acanthurus) , stargazers (Uranos- 

 copus), weeverfishes (Trachinus) , certain catfishes (Plotosus, Galeich- 

 tliys) 



FOLKLORE AND FACT 



Few areas of biology have stimulated the minds and superstitions of 

 man more than venomology. In early times the consequences of the 

 bites or stings of venomous animals were often attributed to forces 

 beyond nature, sometimes to vengeful deities thought to be embodied 

 in the animals. To these peoples the effects of venoms were so sur- 

 prising and varied, so violent and sometimes incapacitating, that these 

 substances were always shrouded with much myth and superstition. 

 Even today considerable folklore concerning venoms still exists, par- 

 ticularly about methods of treating the injuries inflicted by venomous 

 animals. During the past decade, however, a considerable amount of 

 knowledge on the chemical and zootoxicological properties of venoms 

 and plant poisons has been gained and one can now propose a few 

 general considerations. 



Venoms are complex mixtures, chiefly proteins, many of which are 

 enzymes. Studies to the present time indicate that in those toxins 

 rich in enzymes, such as snake venoms, much of the lethal and more 

 deleterious biological properties appears to be more closely related to 

 the nonenzymatic protein portions of the venom than to the enzymes 

 and enzymatic combinations, although these latter substances certainly 

 contribute to the overall toxicity of the venom. The effects of the 

 separate and combined activities of these substances, and of the metab- 

 olites formed by their interactions, is complicated by the response 

 of the envenomated organism, which may itself produce and/or release 

 substances such as adenosine, bradykinin and histamine, which may 

 not only complicate the poisoning but also may in themselves pro- 

 duce more serious consequences than the venom. The toxin of the 

 bee, for example, is relatively nonlethal. It takes more than 150 

 simultaneous bee stings to kill the adult human; however, persons 

 sensitive to bee venom may die from a single sting, the result of auto- 

 phamiacologic changes. 



The venoms of snakes are the most complex of all the mixtures of 

 the animal toxins. They contain many enzymes, some of which, such 

 as the proteases, phosphomonoesterase, phosphodiesterase, L-amino 

 acid oxidase, 5-nucleotidase, cholinesterase, ribonuclease, desoxyribo- 



