Lionfish bites...

supercichlid

supercichlid

Member
Hello.
I have a dwarf fuzzy lionfish, which today, due to my error, nearly took my finger..
Now, i know they have venomous dorsal spines, but is there anything venomous near the mouth region? Any venomous results from a bite, or just pain?
Also, the venom, is it a hemotoxin?
Thanks for any replies,
James:)
 
grouperhead

grouperhead

Active Member
You will have no ill effects from a lion bite. To my knowledge the only fish with a venomous bite is the Red Sea fang blenny. I'm not sure what the toxin is, I'd guess neurotoxin though. Bo
 
kevinf

kevinf

Member
M7y understanding is a Lionfish stimg is like a bad bee sting. Neer happended to me though. Try it and let us know . ;)
 
grouperhead

grouperhead

Active Member
It's saliva/mouth is full of bacteria which leads to high infection rates of bites from certain eel species. Bo
 
kevinf

kevinf

Member
LOL I tried to hand feed my Mexican Dragon Eel. I was 16. It worked a couple of times unitl....OUCH!!!
 
fmarini

fmarini

Member
Hi:
Bo hit it right on the head.
Lionfish or any scorpionfish for that matter do NOT have toxic bites. If i were you i would worry more about the bacterial infection resulting from the wound. You fish tank is loaded w/ all kinds of bacteria and ots of them cause problems.
Interestingly in a recent study of 101 lionfish envenomations (from an emergency room), besides the pain and swelling, the major medical complication was from bacterial infections. Gallagher, S. A. 2001. Lionfish and Stonefish. eMedicine Journal, 2 (7).
Keep an eye on that
lionfish stings are like a wasp sting on steriods, not a whimpy bee sting. Got tagged 3 times, all my fault and all hurt like a mofo. I even invented swear words when i ran out of the ones i knew. To date there are no reported deaths from lionfish stings.
frank
 
S

simm

Guest
I had a friend who was pricked by a lion. Hand swelled up and his skin from his fingers all the way to his elbow was bruised looking. It was that way for a few weeks. He was in pain. Also I was hand feeding mine a feeder and his mouth hit my finger and it did nothing. (but scare the $#@! out of me).:D
 
S

sebae0

Guest
a lion fish bite will not do anything except as already stated maybe cause a bacterial infection if not cleaned properly. also if you do get stung using ammonia immediately will help in nuetralizing the effects of the venom.
 
fmarini

fmarini

Member
so is it ok to hand feed lions?
well its up to you. IME this is too close to the business end of the lionfish, if you get scared and jerk your hand awayu it might cause the fish to point those dorsal rays at you. So I would tell you NO -while you can certianly fed the fish this way, its not the smartest thing to do-your really asking for it.
The first thing you do if you get zapped by a lionfish, is immerse your hand in the hottest non-scalding hotwater you can stand for at least 30mins. the key is too success is to ensure the water is hot but not scalding. Lionfish venom is heat labile, and the hot water will break down the venom. You will still get pain and swelling, but everything wil be reduced substantially.
also if you do get stung using ammonia immediately will help in nuetralizing the effects of the venom.
Ammonia won't do what you need, ammonia won't penetrate the skin, many of the venom proteins are already very basic and aren't reduced by the ammonia. Really the only good result from the ammonia use might be that the ammonia will kill any potential bacteria which got into the open wound. Of course ammonia on that open wound will sting like a mofo
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top