MARINE TOXINS AND VENOMOUS AND POISONOUS MARINE m
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swollen. The pain may extend up the forearm and into the axilla
within 15 min of the sting. Nausea, vomiting, weakness, palor, syncopy,
an urgency to urinate, conjunctivitis, increased perspiration, headache
and diarrhea have all been reported. Parasthesia about the injured
part and even up the forearm are not uncommon. Swelling and tenderness of the axillary nodes occurred in a t least 30% of the untreated
cases. The severe pain usually subsides in 3 to 8 h ; the swelling and
tenderness may persist for several days. In most cases there are no
subsequent deleterious effects.
I n severe stingings (and four of the victims in this series were
hospitalized for treatment of the systemic effects of the venom), the
pain may be excruciating, causing the victim to thrash about in agony.
Primary shock may occur, and in two cases the victims were taken to
the hospital under oxygen administration. Respirations may become
labored and painful. Pulmonary edema has been reported and
“ abnormal electrocardiograms ” demonstrated. In one case known to
the author the patient had a pulmonary embolism and was hospitalized
for 24 days.
As a “ bait boy ” on the Billings Barge off Ocean Park, California
during the 1930’s, I received numerous stings from this fish. I recall
that some of them were so painful that they caused me to vomit and
on several occasions precipitate episodes of migraine. My fingers
were often swollen for several days following an envenomation. I do
not recall that I ever became immune to the pain produced by the
venom, even though I suspect I must have been stung at least twenty
times over a 4-year period. On some days, two of us cleaned as many
as seventy-five of these fish during a single afternoon, and at least one
person was stung every day or so while handling, or mishandling,
Scorpaena guttata. The pain following the stinging of this fish is more
severe than that experienced following a stinging by Urobphus halleri
or Trachinus vipera. I do not think it is as painful as that produced by
Pterois, although on this point I cannot speak from experience. The
treatment for Scorpaena guttata envenomations has long been hot
water and the protocol as suggested under stingray injuries.
3. Stonejishes (Synanceja)
While most of our knowledge about this group comes to us through
studies on Synanceja horrida, Halstead and Mitchell (1963) suggest that
members of the genera Choridactylus, Erosa, Inimicus, Leptosynanceja
and Hinous should also be included in the group, in view of the
similarities in their venom apparatuses. These fishes are perhaps the
most dangerous of the venomous piscines; certainly, the stonefish
n.
s
363
swollen. The pain may extend up the forearm and into the axilla
within 15 min of the sting. Nausea, vomiting, weakness, palor, syncopy,
an urgency to urinate, conjunctivitis, increased perspiration, headache
and diarrhea have all been reported. Parasthesia about the injured
part and even up the forearm are not uncommon. Swelling and tenderness of the axillary nodes occurred in a t least 30% of the untreated
cases. The severe pain usually subsides in 3 to 8 h ; the swelling and
tenderness may persist for several days. In most cases there are no
subsequent deleterious effects.
I n severe stingings (and four of the victims in this series were
hospitalized for treatment of the systemic effects of the venom), the
pain may be excruciating, causing the victim to thrash about in agony.
Primary shock may occur, and in two cases the victims were taken to
the hospital under oxygen administration. Respirations may become
labored and painful. Pulmonary edema has been reported and
“ abnormal electrocardiograms ” demonstrated. In one case known to
the author the patient had a pulmonary embolism and was hospitalized
for 24 days.
As a “ bait boy ” on the Billings Barge off Ocean Park, California
during the 1930’s, I received numerous stings from this fish. I recall
that some of them were so painful that they caused me to vomit and
on several occasions precipitate episodes of migraine. My fingers
were often swollen for several days following an envenomation. I do
not recall that I ever became immune to the pain produced by the
venom, even though I suspect I must have been stung at least twenty
times over a 4-year period. On some days, two of us cleaned as many
as seventy-five of these fish during a single afternoon, and at least one
person was stung every day or so while handling, or mishandling,
Scorpaena guttata. The pain following the stinging of this fish is more
severe than that experienced following a stinging by Urobphus halleri
or Trachinus vipera. I do not think it is as painful as that produced by
Pterois, although on this point I cannot speak from experience. The
treatment for Scorpaena guttata envenomations has long been hot
water and the protocol as suggested under stingray injuries.
3. Stonejishes (Synanceja)
While most of our knowledge about this group comes to us through
studies on Synanceja horrida, Halstead and Mitchell (1963) suggest that
members of the genera Choridactylus, Erosa, Inimicus, Leptosynanceja
and Hinous should also be included in the group, in view of the
similarities in their venom apparatuses. These fishes are perhaps the
most dangerous of the venomous piscines; certainly, the stonefish
n.