Reef Discussion

[Trash]

i leant something new today. I was transferring a regal tang / hippo tang to another tank and he wedged himself into an ornament. I tried to gently nudge him out and bang! I tried to nudge him under the mouth (less pointy bits) and he slipped and my finger caught his anal fin spine. It hurt like a muther! I've been stung by a fox face and it was easily more painful.

I did the usual trick of putting my finger in hot water to break down the venom (which until doing an extensive search, I didn't know they had). The finger swelled up to about twice the size and initially I had to lie down such was the pain (and adrenalin rush). It took a few hours for the pain to go away.

So my public service announcement is DO NOT HANDLE REGAL TANGS! I had never heard of them being venomous but they sure are.

Cheers Dave

 

[Wazza22]

i leant something new today. I was transferring a regal tang / hippo tang to another tank and he wedged himself into an ornament. I tried to gently nudge him out and bang! I tried to nudge him under the mouth (less pointy bits) and he slipped and my finger caught his anal fin spine. It hurt like a muther! I've been stung by a fox face and it was easily more painful.

I did the usual trick of putting my finger in hot water to break down the venom (which until doing an extensive search, I didn't know they had). The finger swelled up to about twice the size and initially I had to lie down such was the pain (and adrenalin rush). It took a few hours for the pain to go away.

So my public service announcement is DO NOT HANDLE REGAL TANGS! I had never heard of them being venomous but they sure are.

Cheers Dave

Crikey, good to know. Have moved mine twice now (tank relocation then upgrade) and had to almost handle him once. I got lucky it seems :eek

 

[ReeferRob]

I've never heard of them being venomous, I would be more worried about a secondary infection setting in from the wound. Keep an eye on the wound for heat, redness or swelling and get medical treatment if any of those happen. I've been hit with all of them, lions, foxface and urchins, they all suck.

I'm going to dispatch an email to my African collector and inquire if they've heard of it, they collect more yellow bellied Regals than anyone else.

 

[MagicJ]

The literature does describe the spine as containing toxins -

This spine contains toxins that can cause a debilitating pain to small predators and uncomfortable irritation and pain in humans.

Apparently, it also has toxins in its flesh, so it's probably not a good idea to eat a Blue Tang.

 

[Trash]

I think it was fish base that stated the dorsal/anal fin spines are venomous. I should have kept the reference; other references stated that the caudal peduncle spines are venomous also. In other words, I don't think much research has been done. But most sites did say the skin and flesh are poisonous to ingest as they are prone to ciguatera poisoning.

Today the finger is slightly swollen but no pain and I'm making sure I disinfect it regularly.

Pretty surprising to learn seeing that it is such a common fish in the trade. It would had to have been venom; nothing else would be that painful and act so fast. Does that make sense?

Cheers

Dave

 

[Trash]

I'm going to dispatch an email to my African collector and inquire if they've heard of it, they collect more yellow bellied Regals than anyone else.

I would be very interested in what they say.

 

[MagicJ]

Good to hear you are on the mend ...

 

[ReeferRob]

OK, the collectors said they do possess a venom, but it irritates the wound site. They also said they have more of an issue with infection setting in than with the venom itself. Keep it clean and put some sort of antibiotic ointment on it until it heals. If it doesn't heal or becomes warm and red, seek medical attention at once. I had no idea and I sell 1-200 of the yellow belly Regals a month as well as that many regular Regals. I'm always mindful around tangs, triggers and scorpionfish.

 

[Trash]

Good to hear you are on the mend ...

Thanks, no side affects apart from a new found respect for Dory!

 

[ReeferRob]

I've been zapped by everything short of stonefish. Sohals are real shits, they have dual scalpels and mean as a damn snake. You'll only make the mistake of cornering one once, lol. Urchin spines suck, puffers will bite the shit out of you if you give then half a chance. I'm not even phased by Lionfish stings anymore.