Catch scorpionfish and prepare it. Sea ruffs: injections, treatment, prevention. Small but formidable predator

In the Black or Azov Sea you can find very interesting fish that have an unusual and menacing appearance, reminiscent of a real one. Large, bulging eyes covered with outgrowths, a hefty mouth with thick lips and many sharp teeth, rays of the dorsal fin, similar to real spines. This formidable depth is called the sea ruffe, or in other words, scorpionfish.

Small but formidable predator

This monster belongs to big family scorpionidae - marine ray-finned fish - included in the order of scorpionfishes and numbering more than 20 genera and 209 species. Representatives of this family live in the waters of tropical and temperate seas, but most of prefers the Indo-Pacific region. The genus scorpionfish itself (sea ruffe is a representative of the genus), numbering 62 species, is distributed in the waters of the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean and the seas belonging to their basins.

In our country you can find two types of scorpionfish - the noticeable scorpionfish and the Black Sea scorpionfish (sea ruff). By the way, this is not the only place where this amazing fish. It was even seen in the fresh water of Shapsho in the Caucasus, not to mention the Sea of ​​Azov.

Scorpionfish is a relatively small fish, on average its size does not exceed 15-20 cm. Rare specimens reach half a meter in length. According to its way of life, the ruffe is a predator. The basis of its diet is small fish, crustaceans, and invertebrate animals. Because the sea ​​ruffe very difficult to notice even with close range, he does not chase his prey, but lies motionless on the bottom and waits for the prey to approach him, after which he makes a short, swift throw.

Be careful, scorpionfish!

The sea ruffe has a very menacing appearance indeed. The body of the scorpionfish has an oblong shape, somewhat compressed on the sides, covered with small, rough scales, and a fin consisting of a number of sharp spines. The large head, covered with numerous spines and outgrowths, as well as the large, wide-lipped mouth, look especially impressive. The ruffe is quite variegated in color: many dark spots and stripes are scattered across a brown background, the shade of which can be very different. The same spots and stripes are present on the fins. A special feature of the scorpionfish is that it molts periodically (on average once a month). Wherein upper layer the skin is shed by a stocking (like that of snakes), under which there is a new one - fresher and brighter.

At the base of the spines that cover the body of the scorpionfish, there are channels that contain deadly poison. But the ruffe uses its poisonous spines exclusively for protection. If a thorn is stuck into the body, poison is injected into the wound, from which the injection site swells and begins to hurt very much, like a wasp sting. With multiple injuries, even death is possible (which happens extremely rarely). In this case, it is necessary to do everything possible to ensure that the injection site bleeds as much as possible to prevent further poison from entering the body, treat this place hot water and go to a medical facility, even if the pain begins to gradually subside. By the way, when cleaning already caught fish, it is also necessary to observe safety measures.

Despite its threatening appearance, the sea ruffe, the photo of which is reminiscent of real monsters, is not just edible - its white and juicy meat is considered a real delicacy. You can cook a variety of things from scorpionfish delicious dishes. Ukha and ruff baked in foil are especially popular. Therefore, they often become a desirable prey for lovers of fishing or spearfishing, since due to their inactivity they allow them to swim very close to them.

Fish of the order of sea ruffs take second place after stingrays in the number of poisonous injections inflicted on people. Poisonous spiny rays are present in all fins except the pectoral ones. At the base of each ray there are 2 poisonous glands. The spine itself is covered with a free-hanging skin, which, when pricked, moves down and puts pressure on the poisonous gland. The secretion of the gland flows out and through a hollow running along the spine enters the wound. The poison is a high molecular weight protein. You can get an injection not only in the sea, fishing, diving or simply wandering in shallow water, but also at home if you keep scorpion fish in an aquarium (many aquarists consider these fish not only interesting, but also beautiful).

Based on the structure of the poisonous organs and the strength of the poison, ruffes can be divided into 4 groups. Least poisonous sea ​​bass genus Sebastes, although they can also cause a dangerous injection. A thorn wound sometimes causes complications that disable a person for several weeks or even months, or even leave a mark for life: the finger loses the ability to bend and straighten. But sea bass are deep-sea creatures, they are not found on our shores, and are sold in fish stores under the name rotbash. Lionfish have long and thin spines, small venom glands, and relatively weak stings. Scorpionfish have shorter and thicker spines, larger poison glands, and stronger stings. Stonefish have short, strong, powerful spines, well-developed poisonous glands, and their injections can be fatal to humans.

After being pricked by a scorpionfish thorn, a person experiences a sharp pain, which gradually intensifies to the point that it can become unbearable and lead to loss of consciousness. The affected area becomes numb and swollen. The pain sometimes begins to subside only after a few hours, but is felt after a few days. The severity of poisoning depends on many factors, including the type of fish, the number of spines embedded, and physical condition victims. Deep injections caused by several thorns at once are especially dangerous. With repeated wounds, a person gradually acquires immunity to fish poison and suffers less and less from it.

Because, about sea ruffes and their relatives, as well as about all sorts of dangerous creatures, there are a lot of legends, often unreliable, then to refute them I used the article by the American doctor, Dr. Scott Gallagher, “Lionfish and Stonefish”.

Descriptions of the tragic consequences of scorpionfish injections roam from site to site. Even on the professional ichthyological website FishBase it is written that the lionfish Pterois miles “fin rays are very poisonous and can cause death.”

And here’s what Dr. Gallagher writes: Doctors have described 101 reliable cases of being pricked by a lionfish. All victims are aquarists. 92% had local pain, 60% experienced swelling, and 13% had systemic symptoms. There were no deaths. In 95% of cases, skin damage was characterized by erythema (redness), blisters appeared in 4% and tissue necrosis in 1%.

While the sting of a lionfish is painful and only potentially dangerous to humans, other scorpionfish are very poisonous marine animals. In any case, among fish they are the most poisonous. It is a very popular statement that when an injection occurs on a stone fish, death occurs within 2 hours. But Gallagher writes that information about deaths upon contact with stonefish are rare and unreliable. The deaths of only 3 people are documented, and only one of them died immediately after the injection, and the other two died several months after the wound from secondary infection and tetanus.

However, the injection of the Synanceia stonefish causes unbearable pain, rendering the person incapacitated. The pain affects the limb and the lymph nodes closest to it. The peak of pain occurs 60-90 minutes after the injection and without medical intervention lasts up to 12 hours. Residual pain may persist for several weeks. The injection site is surrounded by a ring of bluish tissue. Then swelling and redness appear, the limb may become hot, and in rare cases, tissue necrosis develops even without a secondary infection. Blisters form, the skin begins to peel and peel. Sometimes a runny nose, muscle weakness, shortness of breath, and a drop in blood pressure appear.

First aid

It is necessary to determine the injection site, carefully remove the detected thorns, squeeze out a little blood from the wound, give an anesthetic, treat the wound with soap, rinse fresh water and seek medical help.

Good method Primary detoxification is hot baths. This method helps not only with injections of scorpion fish, but also stingrays, sea ​​urchins and other marine animals with poisonous spines, since some poison polypeptides are destroyed at high temperatures.

According to Gallagher, the water temperature should not exceed 45o C. (114 degrees Fahrenheit). The doctor reminds that as a result of anesthesia and loss of sensitivity, burns are possible when using more hot water. But there is another opinion: the water for the bath should be as hot as the victim can tolerate. Processing time is 30-90 minutes. If the pain returns, the procedure must be repeated. But in any case, the bath is made after removing the thorns.

An antidote has been developed against stonefish venom, but it is only effective if administered immediately after the injection. But what is necessary in any case is to be vaccinated against tetanus, the pathogens of which can enter the body with a thorn and cause death. But it is best to take preventive measures.

Prevention

Most of the pricks of scorpion fish are caused by improper behavior of people: careless walking along the bottom, awkward handling of aquarists or aggressive behavior swimmers As a rule, it is impossible to notice these fish on the bottom, they are so well camouflaged. Therefore, where there is a danger of meeting them, do not go into the water barefoot, especially at night. Remember that swimming shoes or scuba gear do not provide complete protection. Poisonous rays can puncture rubber. In water, try to walk with a shuffling gait without lifting your feet from the substrate. When you see a lionfish, scorpionfish or wart, do not touch them, much less drive them into the corners of shelters, otherwise they may rush at you in defense. Aquarists keeping these fish must be very careful.

In seas such as the Azov and Black among all the inhabitants underwater world you can meet a formidable-looking fish - the sea ruffe or, in other words, the scorpionfish. This fish really has a frightening appearance and looks like a sea monster.

Description of appearance, what it eats, how it reproduces and where it lives interesting fish will be discussed in this article.

Features of the sea ruffe

Sea ruff belongs to the fish of the scorpionfish family, which, in turn, belong to the ray-finned fish. The order Scorpiformes includes 209 species belonging to 20 genera. These fish prefer reservoirs of tropical and temperate seas and oceans. The sea ruffe mainly lives in the Indian and Pacific Ocean. The genus of scorpionfish, which includes about 60 species, lives in reservoirs of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The fish prefers to live at the bottom and leads sedentary image life.

In Russia, scorpionfish can be found in two species: conspicuous and Black Sea. It is quite difficult to distinguish these species. The only difference is the presence of a black spot on the dorsal fin of the noticeable scorpionfish. And black sea scorpionfish the only difference is the longer processes located above the eyes, which resemble rag patches. In the noticeable scorpion fish these processes are shorter. Ruffes live in the Black Sea water, the mouth of the Shapsukho River, and also in the Sea of ​​Azov. By appearance scorpionfish looks like river ruffe, which is why its second name is sea ruff.

Appearance

This representative of the underwater world has no big sizes bodies that reach 150–200 mm. Very rarely, some species of sea ruffes can reach 500 mm.

The Black Sea scorpionfish reaches 300 mm with a weight of 1 thousand grams. A noticeable scorpionfish has a length of up to 150 mm and a weight of 200–300 grams.

Scorpionfish is a predatory fish species. The diet of the sea ruffe includes small fish, invertebrate organisms, as well as crustaceans. Ruff, when hunting, lies motionless and waits for the prey to swim closer to him, and then the fish makes its throw and catches the prey.

The appearance of the scorpionfish is really scary:

• The body of the sea ruffe is oblong and compressed at the sides.
• The surface of the body is covered with small and rough scales.
• The fin has the most formidable appearance, because it consists of sharp spines.
• Head big size and covered big amount spines and outgrowths.
• The mouth is large with wide lips.
• It has a variegated color. Against the background of a brown tint of various colors, there are stripes and specks of a dark shade. The same spots can be seen on the fins.

Scorpionfish spines

At the base of the spines that cover the body of the sea ruffe there are two grooves containing a toxic substance. The spines of scorpionfish are arranged almost in the same way as the teeth of snakes. The scorpionfish uses its threatening spines and poison only for protection in case of danger.

When a fish defends itself, it plunges its spines into the enemy’s body and injects a poisonous liquid into the resulting wound. After a while, the injection site swells and begins to cause severe pain, which resembles the pain of a wasp sting. Sometimes in addition to pain and swelling the person may vomit and sweat profusely. If a sea ruff stings a person's body numerous times, then in rare cases even death is possible.

First aid for pricking a sea ruffe

If a person is pricked by a sea ruffe, the following steps must be taken:

1. Determine the injection site and remove the thorn fragment.
2. It is necessary to ensure that the injection site bleeds for as long as possible. This will eliminate further penetration of the toxic liquid and its spread throughout the human body. Therefore, it is necessary to squeeze the blood out of the wound as long as possible.
3. The affected area should be treated with hot or sea ​​water. If you have hydrogen peroxide on hand, it is best to disinfect the wound with it.
4. Contact a medical facility for assistance professional help, even if the injection site is no longer bothering you.

They catch scorpionfish close to the shore. The most successful places for catching are considered to be piers, piers, rocks, as well as shores where there is a bottom with large stones and dense vegetation. Scorpion fish hunt in such places, so finding it among algae bushes and in rock crevices is quite easy.

Scorpionfish can be caught on a hook throughout the year, but fishermen prefer to hunt sea ruffes in summer time. Most active the fish reaches at night. There are no special requirements for gear - they can be very different. The best option would be: a spinning rod with installation of bottom tackle, as well as a sea circle.

Bait for sea ruffe

Bait for scorpion fish is used in rare cases. The ruffe will collect any bait, for example: crushed mussel shells, in a short period of time. You can use small pieces of horse mackerel.

For fishing for scorpionfish, the following is used as bait:

• Chicken and fish fillet.
• Boiled shrimp.
• Squid meat.
• Fresh shrimp.
• Small pieces of fish that were recently caught.

The scorpionfish has an excellent appetite, so it grabs prey that may exceed its size. The sea ruffe is not afraid of the rings of a spinning rod, and thanks to its gluttony, it quickly gets hooked.

Both with the help of a spinning rod and with the help of a sea mug, scorpionfish are caught in a plumb line. If fishing is done using a spinning rod, then you need to lower the bet to the very bottom, pick up the slack, and then make a stretch and wait for the bite. If the fish is caught, the fisherman first feels short-term constrictions, and then a strong jerk occurs. With such signs, you cannot hesitate, otherwise the scorpion fish will hide under the nearest boulder and then the bet will end, and you will be left without a catch.

If you use a marine circle, then you should lower the ring to the very bottom and then leave the tackle for about 20 minutes. In this case, there is no need to worry that the fish will escape, because the ring and small leashes will not allow it to go a great distance and get caught and then break the tackle on the rocks.

How to remove a sea ruffe from a hook

Retrieving a caught scorpionfish is simple, but you should remember safety precautions and make sure that the spike does not injure the skin.

The poisonous spines of the scorpionfish are located:

1. At the base of the dorsal fin rays.
2. On ventral fin at the base of the first ray.
3. At the base of the three rays of the anal fin.

To remove the sea ruff from the hook, you need to press it with the handle of the rod and grab it by the lower lip with pliers. Then, in order to avoid injury from the thorns, they are trimmed with scissors. Next, the fish is removed from the hook without any threat to the fisherman’s health.

Sea ruff in the kitchen

Despite the fact that the scorpionfish looks scary, its juicy, white meat with a sweetish taste - considered a real delicacy. But it should be remembered that When cleaning caught fish, you should follow safety precautions, otherwise you can get hurt by its thorns. You can cook from sea ruff a large number of delicious dishes. Her fried, boiled, dried, used in aspic dishes and soups. Most often this fish baked in foil, and preparing fish soup. They say that ruff soup has a special taste.

An interesting fact is that sea ruffe meat, in addition to its excellent taste, affects men’s health. Therefore, for male fishermen and underwater hunters, the Black Sea scorpionfish is always a desirable prey.

The holiday season is in full swing and right now many are packing their bags to go somewhere on the Black Sea coast. Someone is attracted to leisure and fishing, while others prefer to splash in the warm coastal waves. But both It should be remembered that among the inhabitants of the Black Sea there are also poisonous creatures, personal acquaintance with which can not only ruin your vacation, but even cause death.

Therefore, for everyone who is planning to spend their vacation in the South or is simply curious, here are the names and photos poisonous fish Black Sea.

Scorpion - sea ​​fish, outwardly very reminiscent of an ordinary river ruff. For this similarity, the scorpionfish received a second, unofficial name - sea ruff. Unlike its freshwater counterpart, the sea ruffe is much larger. The average weight of a standard individual is 400-500 g, although if desired, you can find specimens weighing up to 1 kg and up to 35 cm in length. But this is still a rarity, which is difficult to discover. great luck, if, of course, you can call a meeting with a rather dangerous fish that way.

The scorpionfish's spines are located not only on the back, but also on the head. There is a poison gland inside each needle. When injected, the poison instantly enters the tissues of the victim, who experiences severe burning pain. Over the next two hours, a person may develop a fever and swelling in the affected area. And although deaths history does not know, yet there is little pleasure from meeting this poisonous fish of the Black Sea.

Especially dangerous scorpionfish appears during the spawning period, which begins in late spring and lasts until the first days of June. So at this time you need to be careful, especially fishermen who encounter the sea ruff much more often than ordinary vacationers.

To avoid serious consequences pricking on scorpionfish thorns can be done by treating the affected area with hydrogen peroxide, which completely neutralizes the poison. In addition, it has long been noticed that fishermen who have survived several stings of the sea ruffe develop immunity to their poison, due to which pain is completely absent.

Ordinary vacationers may encounter scorpionfish in shallow water, where this fish often hunts in the pre-dawn hours. So, when walking along the beach, you need to carefully look at your feet so as not to accidentally step on a sea ruffe lurking in the sand.

Concluding the conversation about scorpion fish, let us note the gastronomic features of this fish. Most often, fish soup is made from it, which turns out to be very rich, tasty and absolutely safe. The fillet parts of the carcass can be fried or dried, resulting in an excellent snack for beer.

One of the first places in the ranking of poisonous fish of the Black Sea and the entire Mediterranean basin is occupied by a small fish called sea ​​dragon. Also, fishermen often call it a snake or an underwater scorpion, which already says a lot about the danger of this fish.

An adult reaches 40 cm in length and is very similar in appearance to a goby, which Black Sea coast is the main catch of fishermen. This similarity only increases the danger posed by the sea dragon.

The main weapon of an underwater scorpion is poisonous spines, which are located on the gills and in the head area. Moreover, it is interesting that the danger can come even from dead fish, since the poisonous glands continue to act for several hours.

Even light touch they can cause severe pain in a person, the affected area instantly swells, and the swelling can reach monstrous proportions. If measures are not taken in time, the person’s temperature rises and severe chills begin. But these are only visible consequences. What is more dangerous is what happens inside the body. And there pulmonary edema develops at a very high rate, possibly impaired cardiac function and even loss of consciousness.

As in the case of scorpionfish, The main first aid remedy is hydrogen peroxide. But it can only partially weaken the poison, which will make it possible to deliver the victim to a hospital or emergency room without serious consequences. If you don’t have peroxide on hand, you can treat the injection site with very hot water - Under the influence high temperatures toxins are destroyed.

Experienced fish use the old-fashioned method. A match is applied to the affected area, which is then ignited by another burning match. It is stated that if such a procedure is carried out in the first few minutes, complications can be completely avoided.

Just like almost all poisonous fish of the Black Sea, sea ​​dragon is quite edible, moreover, the meat of this fish is not fatty and very tender. However, before preparing a fish dish, you need to carefully cut off the poisonous spines located on the gills and dorsal fin.

Sea cow or stargazer

By studying the names and photos of poisonous fish in the Black Sea, you can find very unusual creature with bulging eyes and strange spikes on his head. This is a sea cow or stargazer - a predator fish that, when hunting, buries itself completely in the sand, leaving only its eyes on the surface. In this position, the eyes resemble telescopes, which nimbly rotate in different directions in search of prey. Hence it is so unusual name- astrologer.

The thorns mentioned above are poisonous, but the main danger does not come from them. The entire body of the stargazer is covered with a thick layer of mucus, the touch of which with an unprotected hand threatens a person with a serious chemical burn.

The situation is aggravated by the fact that the sea cow looks somewhat reminiscent of harmless gobies, so inexperienced fishermen often grab the caught fish with their bare hands. Locals, of course, such an oversight will not be allowed, but visitors often become victims of the astrologer.

Ordinary vacationers should be wary sea ​​cow It’s not worth it - it lives quite far from the shore, so you can only encounter it while fishing. But if, nevertheless, the unpredictable fate of a holidaymaker brings him together with an astrologer, then the affected area should be immediately treated with hydrogen peroxide, and then, as soon as possible, contact nearest point for medical help.