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FINDLAY E. RUSSELL
are affected to the point that the individual moves incoordinately ,
and in a manner similar to that seen in another more common form of
intoxication. Ataxia, incoherent speech or aphonia are prominent
signs in severe poisonings.
The patient complains of dizziness, tightness of the throat and
chest and some pain on deep inspiration. Weakness, malaise, headache,
increased salivation and perspiration, thirst, and nausea and vomiting
may be present. The pulse is usually thready and rapid; the superficial reflexes are often absent and the deep reflexes may be hypoactive.
If muscular weakness and respiratory distress grow progressively more
severe during the first 8 h, death may ensue. If the victim survives the
first 10-12 h the prognosis is good. Death is usually attributed to
" respiratory paralysis ". The case fatality rate varies from 1 to 10%.
VII. POISONOUS FISHES
Approximately 500 species of marine fishes are known to be toxic,
or may on ingestion be poisonous to man. This number does not include those fishes which have caused a poisoning traceable to bacterial
pathogens. Most, but by no means all, of these species are found in
the coral-reef belt. As a whole their distribution is spotty, even in a
particular part of the ocean or around an island. They tend to occur in
greater numbers around islands than along continental shores. Most
species are non-migratory reef fishes ; a few predaceous species might be
considered migratory, although certainly not in the strict sense of the
word. They may be either herbivores or carnivores. Some poisonous
species have tissues which are toxic at all times; other species are
poisonous only at certain periods, or in certain areas, while still others
have only specific organs which are toxic, and the toxicity of these
tissues may vary with time and location.
Although early workers were inclined to attribute fish poisoning
to a single common cause, it is now obvious that several etiological
factors may be involved. Among those that have been suspected or
suggested, at one time or another, of being implicated in ichthyotoxism
are :
1. Feeding on toxic'or non-toxic marine plants. In the latter case
it has been suggested that the metabolic processes of the fish
were able to alter certain plant components into a toxic form.
2. Feeding on toxic protista, particularly dinoflagellates.
3. Feeding on shoreline terrestrial plants whose berries or leaves
have been swept into the sea.
FINDLAY E. RUSSELL
are affected to the point that the individual moves incoordinately ,
and in a manner similar to that seen in another more common form of
intoxication. Ataxia, incoherent speech or aphonia are prominent
signs in severe poisonings.
The patient complains of dizziness, tightness of the throat and
chest and some pain on deep inspiration. Weakness, malaise, headache,
increased salivation and perspiration, thirst, and nausea and vomiting
may be present. The pulse is usually thready and rapid; the superficial reflexes are often absent and the deep reflexes may be hypoactive.
If muscular weakness and respiratory distress grow progressively more
severe during the first 8 h, death may ensue. If the victim survives the
first 10-12 h the prognosis is good. Death is usually attributed to
" respiratory paralysis ". The case fatality rate varies from 1 to 10%.
VII. POISONOUS FISHES
Approximately 500 species of marine fishes are known to be toxic,
or may on ingestion be poisonous to man. This number does not include those fishes which have caused a poisoning traceable to bacterial
pathogens. Most, but by no means all, of these species are found in
the coral-reef belt. As a whole their distribution is spotty, even in a
particular part of the ocean or around an island. They tend to occur in
greater numbers around islands than along continental shores. Most
species are non-migratory reef fishes ; a few predaceous species might be
considered migratory, although certainly not in the strict sense of the
word. They may be either herbivores or carnivores. Some poisonous
species have tissues which are toxic at all times; other species are
poisonous only at certain periods, or in certain areas, while still others
have only specific organs which are toxic, and the toxicity of these
tissues may vary with time and location.
Although early workers were inclined to attribute fish poisoning
to a single common cause, it is now obvious that several etiological
factors may be involved. Among those that have been suspected or
suggested, at one time or another, of being implicated in ichthyotoxism
are :
1. Feeding on toxic'or non-toxic marine plants. In the latter case
it has been suggested that the metabolic processes of the fish
were able to alter certain plant components into a toxic form.
2. Feeding on toxic protista, particularly dinoflagellates.
3. Feeding on shoreline terrestrial plants whose berries or leaves
have been swept into the sea.