184 PHYTOTOXINS AND ZOOTOXINS 



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POISONOUS FISH i 



There are numerous fish, especially in tropical waters, which 

 defend themselves by injecting poisons into their enemies. This 

 is accomplished by spines, to which are attached poison glands. 

 Dunbar-Brunton 2 has described two such fish (Trachinis draco 

 and Seorpcena scorphd) of Mediterranean waters. Wounds by 

 these spines cause in animals intense local irritation and edema 

 and paralysis of the part, followed by gangrene about the site 

 of the wound ; in fatal poisoning death occurs in from one to 

 sixteen hours, with general paralysis. The sufferings of persons 

 so poisoned are said to be extreme, and death may occur either 

 directly from the poison or later from sepsis following the local 

 gangrene. Presumably this poison is not dissimilar to that of 

 the snakes ; it probably is not an alkaloid, as Dunbar-Brunton 

 suggests. It affects chiefly the heart, according to Pohl. 3 



Several other fish secrete poison in glands attached to long 

 spines, one of the most poisonous being Synanceia brachio, which 

 is known to have caused fatal intoxication in several instances. 

 Only the Murcenidce seem capable of poisoning by biting ; they 

 have a well -developed poison apparatus on the gums, but nothing 

 is known concerning the poisons they produce. 



Many fish develop poisonous ptomai'ns remarkably soon after 

 death, especially in tropical climates, so that a fish that is 

 perfectly wholesome if eaten immediately after being caught 

 may be very poisonous if kept but a few hours. There is a 

 decided difference in fish of different varieties in this respect, 

 so that some cannot be safely marketed. 



There are also other fish whose bodies, even when perfectly 

 fresh, contain very powerful poisons. Savtschenko, 4 in his 

 elaborate atlas of the poisonous fish, describes a number of cases 

 of poisoning by the famous "parrot fish" of Japan (Tetrodon^, 

 in which the poison seems to be developed and contained in the 

 ovaries and eggs, and therefore the degree of toxicity varies 



1 Full discussion and literature given by Faust. "Tierische Gifte," p. 134. 



2 Lancet, 1896 (ii), 600. 



3 Prager med. Woch., 1893 (18), 31. 



4 "Atlas des Poissons Veneneux," St. Petersburg, 1886 (literature). 



