7 of The Most Poisonous Fishes in the Sea

You might think that the most dangerous animals on earth are found on land, but you’d be surprise to find some scary, but sometimes beautiful, dangerous creatures lurking in the water. A few fish species are known for their poison, in fact there have been a few cases where people have died because if them. Below are the most poisonous fishes that you should keep an eye out for the next time you’re swimming or diving in open waters.

Crown of Thorns

This is names after exactly how it looks like, a big crown of thorns. They’re actually related to the starfish, but they’re poisonous. Their bodies are covered in thousands of venomous spikes. a sting from their spines can cause intense pain, swelling, and redness.

Surgeonfish

Although they look absolutely harmless, Surgeon fishes have spines that are dormant when they’re not threatened. The fish uses this by sticking the spines out like tiny knives. Their spines are highly poisonous, causing extreme pain and hypertension. You can even dies of hypovolemia because of a sting.

Pufferfish

Although they are extremely poisonous, Pufferfishes actually can’t inject poison into other creatures. The danger is when you eat them. A powerful toxin called tetrodotoxin is found in a number of their organs, including the liver, skin, and intestines. Even though they are poisonous, they’re still prized as a delicacy, and only certified chefs and restaurants are allowed to serve them.

Scorpionfish

The Scorpionfish is related to two other very poisonous fishes, the lionfish and stonefish. Their prickly skin and fins carry its poison. a single sting from this fish results to swelling and extreme pain, which spreads throughout the whole area in a very short time. Scorpionfishes are commonly seen in warmer, tropical waters.

Stingray

Stingrays can get pretty aggressive when provoked. They’d whip out their venomous tails and try to sting their opponents with it. There are usually seven spines on their tail, sometimes more. If the spine breaks, it often gets lodged into the flesh, causing a lot of pain and extreme bleeding.

Lionfish

One of the most beautiful, but deadly, fishes in the sea, the lionfish has spines on its dorsal side that it uses to defend itself. They’re non-aggressive and timid by nature and would never attack. Envenomation often only happens when you get too close and would hit its spine. The poison results to breathing problems, vomiting, headache, severe pain, and even paralysis of the cardiac muscles.

Stonefish

This fish is a venom storehouse. Glands found at the bottom of their dorsal fin keeps the potent venom and are released through 13 needle-like spines. Most stonefish victims end up injuring themselves because this fish is also a master of camouflage and it’s difficult to see them next to rocks and stones on the sea bed.

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Stingray Gives Birth to Twins on Camera

Being able to get the chance of taking a video of a wild animal giving birth is a very rare opportunity, let alone if the animal is something that you’d usually find swimming and gliding gracefully along the waters of the deep sea. One teenage fisherman was lucky enough to catch everything on video and even help out with the birth.

While fishing in the waters of in Charlotte Harbor, the Punta Gorda Isles named Calvin Conger caught a pregnant stingray while it was delivering its babies.  Conger was actually out fishing for a bigger catch when he pulled up a stingray. To his surprise, the stingray was just moments away from giving birth while on the boat.

According to Conger, he felt a bit disappointed about his catch when he reeled it in and saw it on the hook and even decided to use the stingray as bait for sharks. He flipped it over on a fileting table and noticed that there were other stingers coming out of it. Conger father actually pushed the baby stingrays out of their mother. It gave birth to two babies and the family decided to throw them back to the ocean. Talk about a unique fish tale.

Like most elasmobranchs, like sharks and skates, stingrays are viviparous. This means that unlike fish and other common animals you’d see underwater, their babies come out as live young instead of eggs. Their offspring actually develop onside their bodies, usually inside an egg. The developing babies would rely on the egg yolk instead of the placenta as they grow inside their mother.

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