'Hallucination fish' caught off UK coast
A species of marine fish that has been reported to cause LSD-like hallucinations has been caught off the coast of southern England.According to reports, Cornish fisherman Andy Giles caught the Salema porgy, Sarpa salpa, in his nets while fishing off Polpero in south Cornwall.
The species is normally found in the Mediterranean and is a popular food fish, however, it has also been reported as the cause of ichthyoalleinotoxism - or hallucinogenic fish poisoning.
In 2006 two men who ate the fish at Mediterranean restaurants suffered "terrifying" visual and auditory hallucinations, which toxicologists linked to their consumption of the species.
Practical Fishkeeping's exclusive coverage of the case study examining the plight of the men who suffered from the hallucinations gained coverage in mass media outlets around the world.
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Matt Clarke: 13.5.2009Views: Read 7,968 times
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Reader comment
Date: Monday May 18th, 2009, 6:18 pm
"Could start a whole new genre, fish pie parties. Oooo..look at the scales man!!! Will the goverment be giving this species an illegal drug clasification? See the headlines "Man busted with trip fish, he's done up like a kipper""
Posted by: Ian Graham - 6 months agoDate: Monday May 18th, 2009, 6:18 pm
Reader comment
Date: Monday May 18th, 2009, 11:00 pm
"I'll have some with chips please!"
Posted by: Paul Irvine - 6 months agoDate: Monday May 18th, 2009, 11:00 pm
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 | Editor-in-Chief, Matt Clarke, writes the regular Interesting Imports column on rare and unusual fish in the UK aquarium trade. He's kept fish for 30 years and holds a degree, two higher degrees and two diplomas in fish biology, taxonomy and computational biology. |
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