burky_tc;4706217; said:
I am pretty sure they have some sort of poison and I would treat the fish with respect if you get one. My 40 breeder has 3 leafffish and a pygmy waspfish and I just watch myself when reaching in the tank or I use forceps if necessary.
Not likely. If you are located in an area that is not located near the ocean, treating something like that may not be common knowledge. Not to mention that none of these fish naturally inhabit any of the oceans surrounding the US.
I said naturally because the lionfish has been invasive in the coast of florida for a while now.
FLESHY;4706184; said:
Remember that a lot of these things are like bee stings...the experience can be different for everyone. What might be mild irritation for one, could be highly painful and life threatening to another. Its an allergic reaction.
Agreed.
Also, remember about the coral guys. If you handle zoanthids or palthoas, look up palytoxin. If you are ever truly poisoned with this stuff, your dead before anyone can revive you. There have been mild instances of people getting what was thought to be palytoxin poisoning. One such instance was recently posted on a forum where a guy who is, for all practical purposes, an expert in zoa/paly care was got squirted in the eye. He printed out a sheet on first aid tips for palytoxin poisoning, went to the hospital, and had an eye swollen shut (and looked pretty nasty) for a good while.
To be perfectly honest though, you risk all sorts of bacterial infection just by sticking your bare hands/arm into a closed system like an aquarium.
But if you are curious about the potency and pain associated with a lionfish sting, youtube it. There are plenty of dunces who agitate the fish on purpose to get it to react. My experience, which is limited, is that you really have to not be paying attention to get stung by these guys. Just respect the fish, haha.
And like Fleshy said, its a protein based toxin like that of a bee sting, which if you are severely allergic to bee stings, expect the same reaction.
