Possible Palytoxin Incident

[Pscott9109]

I've been enjoying my reef hobby for about 6 months, and have been taking it pretty slow. Today I bought my 2nd and 3rd zoa frags. One being scrambled eggs, and the other Petroglyphs. I wasn't aware at the time of palytoxin, and did not wear gloves or eye protection. While attaching my Petroglyphs to a rock I had the frag out of the tank applying some super flue to the frag. While it was out of the water my eyes began to burn. It was a pretty brief experience lasting about 4-6 seconds. Of course I stumbled across palytoxin afterwards while searching for videos about frags and the sort. It seems like most sources don't have a straight answer on what is toxic and what isn't. I don't have any of the symptoms that most websites pair with palytoxin, but that it could take up to a day for symptoms to present themselves. I think i may have dodged a bullet, but I am curious on what is toxic and what is not. Anyone else have any experience with palytoxin while just placing frags in your tank?

 

[ifwisheswerefishes]

My fingers have gone completely numb while accidentally pressing hard on Zoanthid colonies while waiting for epoxy to harden while aquascaping.

 

[Pscott9109]

My fingers have gone completely numb while accidentally pressing hard on Zoanthid colonies while waiting for epoxy to harden while aquascaping.

Luckily I'm not having any numbness. It's crazy to think that no one from my LFS told me of the possible dangers of dealing with coral

 

[ifwisheswerefishes]

No one ever told me either! Found out the hard way
Bristleworms can also sting you while moving rocks around.

 

[Oscar47f]

Everything is toxic zoa and paly wise with palythoa having higher concentrations... a work buddy got some toxins in his eye, your eye becomes red and resembles pink eye in a way and it manifested the morning after... I would just be careful and wear eye protection and nitrile gloves and you should be good next time !

 

[LegendaryCG]

Avoid touching stuff in a reef tank. While palytoxin is the most dangerous there's a lot of other stuff that can hurt you. Many fish are venomous, anenomes, sweeper tentacles, urchins, even the bacteria.

 

[Chayo]

Hello, sometimes working with the glue can be irritating and cause a reaction for me, my eyes become irritated and teary, burning sensation almost. Would recommend like everyone else just gloves and some type of eyewear. Work with the corals submerged in a container with water outside of the tank if possible. Happy safe reefing!

 

[gentlefish]

This is quite good:

Palytoxin poisoning — Palytoxin derives from the microalgae, Ostreopsis ovate and O. siamensis, corals, and sea anemones. Palytoxin was originally described in Hawaii but more recently has caused health problems among home aquarium enthusiasts [37] and after an algal bloom in Italy [38]. It binds to and disables the sodium/potassium ATPase pump. Human exposure to palytoxin has been described following ingestion of crabs, fish, and shellfish that have fed on palytoxin-containing algae or coral [39], inhalational exposure from corals in fish tanks or sea air [37,40-43], and dermal or eye exposure after touching corals that elaborate the toxin [43-46].

Inhalational exposure from soft corals in aquariums or sea air can produce conjunctivitis, chest pain, fever, shortness of breath, and bronchospasm [39,47]. Rarely, adult respiratory distress syndrome and acute respiratory failure may occur. Treatment is supportive with administration of antihistamines, inhaled bronchodilators, and systemic corticosteroids.

Although rare, ingestion of contaminated seafood (algae- and reef-feeding fish, crustaceans, and shellfish) can produce neurologic symptoms of paresthesias, weakness, severe uncontrollable muscle cramping (potentially leading to rhabdomyolysis), and hot-cold reversal [39]. Additional findings may include diaphoresis, vomiting, diarrhea, and severe abdominal cramping. Poisoning may occur in outbreaks with mortality rates as high as 10 percent [39].
(Source : up to date)

 

[RVA REEF]

your eyes began to burn from the superglue fumes, and the morphs of zoas you got do not contain palytoxin.

 

[C. Eymann]

+1^^^^^^

 

[iamacat]

Its a big myth that all Zoanthus sp and all Palythoa sp. contain palytoxin/its analogues (PLTX) homopalytoxin, deoxypalytoxin, bishomopalytoxin, neopalytoxin, 42-hydroxypalytoxin.
Only actually a few species of palythoa contain palytoxins in medically significant concentrations, P. heliodiscus and P. toxica are noted to have high concentrations whereas aome samples taken of Palythoa mutuki have been shown to have undetectable concentrations of PLTX
Many samples of different species of Zoanthus sp- taken also have shown to have undetectable concentrations of PLTX as well.

However, thats not to say these, or any group of corals are devoid of potentially irritating, possibly medically significant chemicals that maybe harmful if ingested, which is why precautions should be taken with all coral when it comes to handling.

Then there is the rampant misidentification when it comes to palythoa in the "zoa trade" so many Zoanthus sp are incorrectly called palys/palythoa.
Utter chaos, bowsers, ding dangs, people eaters, bloodsuckers, butkissers, nirvanas, pandoras etc etc are commonly called palys/palythoa by enthusiasts and vendors, which would be incorrect on all cases.
Z. gigantus, sonderi, vietnamensis, pulchellus, kuroshio are commonly misidentified as palythoa, which is a fad that I wish would fade, I have seen people avoid some of these very pretty, easy and rewarding corals to keep simply because they are under the impression they are highly toxic palythoa, that is rather unfortunate IMO.

Just my 2 pieces of copper.

Yea man. Lots of fear around zoas for a minimal risk and a rare chance of that . Unfortunately zoas are a beginner coral and that tends to be uneducated or green reefers. A quick google search about zoas leads you to learning about palytoxin which leads to fear and panic. This isn’t just an issue with zoas, this is just how some people live.

 

[C. Eymann]

Yea man. Lots of fear around zoas for a minimal risk and a rare chance of that . Unfortunately zoas are a beginner coral and that tends to be uneducated or green reefers. A quick google search about zoas leads you to learning about palytoxin which leads to fear and panic. This isn’t just an issue with zoas, this is just how some people live.

I actually posted this in the wrong thread, my intention was to post it in the thread asking "Do all palys and Zoas contain palytoxin?"


I agree with you on all points though, and Im not trying to be "that guy" correcting someone if I see them calling a zoa like utter chaos or Pandoras as Palys/palythoa, Im doing so in interest of the hobby, its not just that the palytoxin fear is massively blown out of proportion, its also in many cases misplaced, mostly due to this rampant misidentification of zoanthus being called palythoa.
I saw someone posting that they felt their fingers go numb from handling utter chaos, hmmm, I dont believe dermal absorption of PLTX has been documented? Even then Utter chaos isn't even a Palythoa anyways? maybe their mind was playing tricks on them?

Eitherway, I think that calling any zoanthus sp "palys" or palythoa should be actively discouraged.