Fish is one of the main food sources in the world, but there are poisonous fish that you should be aware of. Poisonous fish refers to the type of fish that can poison you or even kill you when consumed. The good thing is there are only some certain types of poisonous fish that you should not eat. If you are a fan of fish, perhaps you should know about these poisonous fish so that you can be careful. Below is a list of the most poisonous fish that you should avoid eating, let’s check them out.
1Boxfish
Small and adorable, boxfish are not as innocent as the way they appear to you. This type of fish usually lives in shallow areas of the warmer parts of the world’s oceans. You can find them swimming around coral reefs and seagrass beds. These little things are poisonous, and they have an impressive way of defending themselves. When threatened or stressed, they excrete a toxin from specialized skin cells into the water which poisons marine life in their vicinity.
Specifically, the Hawaiian boxfish, in particular, excretes a toxin called ostracitoxin or pahutoxin which breaks down or destroys red blood cells. With such horrendous talent, boxfish are one of the worst tankmates to have for other pet fish. Once a boxfish releases their slimy toxin, it can kill every fish in a medium-sized aquarium within 10 minutes. This fish gets stressed easily, so they are not recommended for fish pets. And yes, don’t eat them as well.
2Giant Moray
You are looking at an eel with the reputation of being one of the most dangerous and poisonous fish. The poisonous part is the fish can cause ciguatera poisoning if eaten. It is a type of foodborne illness caused by eating reef fish whose flesh is contaminated with certain toxins. The thing is that not everyone is interested in eating this huge monster from the reef though.
As for the dangerous part, just look at those teeth. Yup, giant morays have been the attacker of many divers every year. Some even have their fingers snapped from their hand by this evil eel as well. Most of the time, they hide their long bodies with lengths up to 3 meters in narrow gaps and holes. Giant morays leave their hideouts when they look for food which grabs divers’ attention, fingers, hands, and arms.
3Pufferfish
The ability to inflate the body is one thing, but being the poisonous fish is what we focus on most. Pufferfish aka Blowfish does not make a good meal if you don’t prepare them carefully. In fact, only trained and licensed Japanese chefs are the people you can trust if you really want to eat pufferfish. Almost all pufferfish contain tetrodotoxin which is a substance that makes them foul tasting and often lethal to both fish and humans. As a matter of fact, the substance that pufferfish contains is up to 1,200 times more poisonous than cyanide. All you need is one pufferfish to kill 30 adult humans, and no, there is no antidote to that.
4Toadfish
Goes by many nicknames, Toadie is a species of poisonous fish found along Australia’s eastern coast and in New Zealand waters. This fish contains Tereodotoxin which is one of the most dangerous poisons known to men. It is up to 100 times as deadly as black widow spider venom, so let’s just avoid eating that one. Eating them can lead to fatal consequences, and about 100-200 people around the world become the fish’s victims.
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