barracuda attack august 5

[ggunn]

Was the guy who got his finger and palm bit off wearing a ring? I read somewhere else on this thread that a guy was bitten on the arm in an unprovoked attack by a turtle? I never heard of turtles biting anyone?

Having dived (dove? diven?) with turtles many times, an unprovoked assault by a turtle sounds ludicrous to me. FWIW, I didn't see an account of a turtle attack anywhere in this thread.

 

[alemaozinho]

what a bout the vicious puffers and evil triggers?

 

[Texas Diver]

Having dived (dove? diven?) with turtles many times, an unprovoked assault by a turtle sounds ludicrous to me. FWIW, I didn't see an account of a turtle attack anywhere in this thread.

That is what I thought too. I found the post where a guy reports that he was bitten on the arm in an unprovoked attack by a turtle. It is on this Board but on another thread. Please explain how I can link it so I can share it here.

 

[Texas Diver]

Having dived (dove? diven?) with turtles many times, an unprovoked assault by a turtle sounds ludicrous to me. FWIW, I didn't see an account of a turtle attack anywhere in this thread.

ggunn:

Here is the link to the thread about a guy being bitten by a turtle. It is the 9th post on the thread. Sorry I do not know how to go directly to the post.

http://scubaboard.com/t33429.html

 

[Hank49]

Yes, it was that bad. Very strong flavor. Recommend you don't think of them as food fish. I honestly believe that incidents with baracuda are very rare. It seems they have more to worry about us than we do about them.

You must have let is spoil before it was cooked. Barracuda isn't the best fish but they don't taste bad or strong...at least in Belize. I eat them whenever I get one.

 

[ggunn]

You must have let is spoil before it was cooked. Barracuda isn't the best fish but they don't taste bad or strong...at least in Belize. I eat them whenever I get one.

The deck hand of a boat on which I was fishing off PdC a few years ago told me that sometimes barracuda from around there is good to eat and sometimes it will make you ill. The way he checked one that we caught was to cut it open, find the liver and open it, stick his finger in and touch it to his tongue. He said if it is hot like pepper, the fish is not good to eat.

Cheers,

 

[Hank49]

The deck hand of a boat on which I was fishing off PdC a few years ago told me that sometimes barracuda from around there is good to eat and sometimes it will make you ill. The way he checked one that we caught was to cut it open, find the liver and open it, stick his finger in and touch it to his tongue. He said if it is hot like pepper, the fish is not good to eat.Cheers,

I wonder if that's not caused by a ..forgive my spelling if it's wrong...siguatera toxin. Barracuda accumulate this toxin from eating algae eating reef fishes where the toxin is present.

 

[DandyDon]

You must have let is spoil before it was cooked. Barracuda isn't the best fish but they don't taste bad or strong...at least in Belize. I eat them whenever I get one.

Hank, I know that y'all eat 'em down yonder. The last day I was in San Pedro, some of the guys went fishing, and we had a cookout by the pool - with 3 kinds of fish, include 'cuda. I passed the word that it's not a good idea, as on the rare occasion that they'd bad - they're very bad. Or so I've read...

From the CDC site: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00000722.htm

Epidemiologic Notes and Reports Ciguatera Fish Poisoning -- Vermont

On October 29, 1985, the Epidemiology Division, Vermont Department of Health, learned of two persons with symptoms consistent with ciguatera fish poisoning. Both had eaten barracuda at a local restaurant on October 19. One ill person, a 48-year-old woman, had vomiting, diarrhea, myalgia, and chills 4 hours after the meal, followed the next morning by pruritus, flushing, burning of the tongue, and reversal of hot and cold temperature sensation of objects held in her hands. The second ill person, a 30-year-old male bartender at the restaurant, sought medical attention for severe myalgia and gingival and dental dysesthesia several hours after eating barracuda. In both patients, most symptoms subsided; however, some pruritus and temperature reversal persisted 6 weeks later. A third patron reported pruritus to the restaurant after the meal but was lost to follow-up. No additional cases were identified by contacting the two local emergency rooms and requesting case reports in the Vermont Disease Control Bulletin.

The restaurant had served 24 portions of barracuda received fresh by air from a fish distributor in Florida. Two other restaurants in Burlington had received barracuda from the same shipment. One served 44 portions, and the second froze all portions received. The fish distributor reported that the fish was purchased from boats fishing in Florida's coastal waters but could not identify the exact location. The distributor ships to locations throughout the contiguous United States. No information was available about the distribution of other fish from the same catch.

All portions of a single barracuda frozen by one restaurant and tested for ciguatoxin by enzyme immunoassay at the Department of Pathology, University of Hawaii, were positive for ciguatoxin. Reported by RL Vogt, MD, State Epidemiologist, Vermont Dept of Health; AP Liang, MD, State Epidemiologist, Hawaii Dept of Health; Div of Field Svcs, Epidemiology Program Office, Enteric Diseases Br, Div of Bacterial Diseases, Center for Infectious Diseases, CDC.

Editorial Note
Editorial Note:Human ciguatera poisoning can occur after consumption of a wide variety of coral reef fish, such as barracuda, grouper, red snapper, amberjack, surgeonfish, and sea bass (1,2). Ciguatoxin and related toxins are derived from dinoflagellates, which herbivorous fish consume while foraging through the macro-algae (3). Humans ingest the toxin by consuming either herbivorous fish or carnivorous fish that have eaten the contaminated herbivores. Larger, more predacious reef fish are generally more likely to be toxic (4,5). Since the toxin is heat-stable, cooking does not make the fish safe to eat.

As the domestic and imported fish industry expands its market, the diagnosis of this "tropical" disease must be considered even in areas to which coral-reef fish are not native. Ciguatera fish poisoning can be diagnosed by the characteristic combination of gastrointestinal and neurologic symptoms in a person who ate a suspect fish (6). The diagnosis can be supported by detection of ciguatoxin in the implicated fish.

Hawaii now uses a "stick test" immunoassay to detect ciguatoxin in fish (7). The test is sensitive, specific, inexpensive, and easy to use in the field. In Hawaii, if an outbreak-related fish tests positive for ciguatoxin, the reef area of catch is posted to discourage further fishing in that area. In Miami, Florida, because barracuda have been frequently associated with ciguatera poisoning, a city ordinance bans the sale of barracuda (8).

 

[dlndavid]

I read this whole thread to finally get some good information. Thanks Don, I'll steer clear of the barracuda on the menu. They can be a very intimidating fish, I steer clear of them in the water too.

 

[Hank49]

Ciguatera does accumulate in the reef predators like snappers, grouper etc. John E Randall (the ichthyologist at the Bishop Museum in Honolulu) once explained to me his observations of ciguatera. He said that the toxin producing organism (an algae I believe) is like a lichen that first shows up on a new lava flow. After so many years, a soil begins to form and other plants begin to predominate and the lichens disappear. In the case of ciguatera, it was very prominent in the Pacific islands that had airstrips constructed on them during WW2. Reef was blown up to get the material, exposing new, raw calcium carbonate and afterwards the ciguatera producing organism flourished. After so many years it begins to disappear.
I haven't heard of any cases in Belize but I would guess that reef destruction from hurricane Mitch could have the same affect as dynamiting reefs. But if it's in the barracuda in a region I would guess it's in most of the reef predators. Hank