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It ’s a good thing fish would n’t make it long if light on a plane . A new study finds there are more venomous fish than venomous snakes .
The 1,200 presumably virulent fish tallied in a new field is six times late idea . Fish with a burn bite outnumber all other venomous vertebrates combined , in fact .
A venomous pterois lionfish.
" The results of this inquiry were quite surprising , " said researcher William Leo Smith of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City .
This might surprise you , too : More than 50,000 people are poison by fish bite every year , Smith and his colleague said . symptom range from blisters to death .
observe out
Among the fish to look out for : lionfishes , catfishes , sea scorpion , weeverfishes , Opsanus tau , surgeonfishes , scat singing , diddlyshit , Chimaera monstrosa , stargazers , and stonefishes . [ Gallery of vicious Fish ]
Smith carry the study along with Ward Wheeler , Curator in the Museum ’s Division of Invertebrate Zoology . The results are report in theJournal of Heredity .
Where are they all ?
" Venomous fishes are in almost all habitats , " Smith toldLiveScience . " They range from mint streams to the depths of all oceans , but the Brobdingnagian legal age of the most venomous fishes are in the tropical zone , he said .
There are also " peck of vicious fishes " in the United States , but most are " not in particular harmful , " Smith order . exclusion admit a few scorpionfish in California and the Western Atlantic .
" However , there is always the opening of inaugurate metal money being quite venomous , " he said . " And , we have an example of this in the case of the lionfish / firefish , which became introduce in Florida , and now individuals can be collected at least as far northward as Long Island in the fall . "
Should natator worry ? " For the most part , no , " Smith say . " But mass should always practise caution when dealing with unfamiliar fishes or jazz venomous species . "
The good newsworthiness
The report could be important for thedevelopment of raw drugs . Venoms pack protein that can be used to develop drug to plow a chain of ail fromallergiestopainand even cancer , the scientists say . While many creatures have been tapped for drug maturation , Pisces the Fishes stay a comparatively untapped resource .
Six treatments for stroke or cancer developed from Snake River venom are nearing FDA reassessment , the scientist point out . Scorpion spitefulness has been used in abrain cancer treatment .
The new tilt was developed through DNA studies and morphological analysis of spiny - rayed fishes .
A separate study last class notice there could be more than 1,500 poisonous lizard .
