Venomous Corals to humans

Flame Hawkfish · May 4, 2014

Hi Everyone, I was reading online on how zoas and playthoas have a toxin called the palytoxin and heard it can be very harmful to humans. I was going to ask what other corals do you guys know of that can be harmful to humans. Any comments would helpThanks, Flame Hawkfish

Russellaqua · May 4, 2014

Occasionally you see "fire" corals in the hobby. They are well named as many people describe an extreme burning sensation after being stung. Like zoas and palys, fire corals are not true corals but they do have a hard skeleton. I have touched one and did feel a tingling, I must be among the fortunate who don't react strongly, and have never felt a true coral sting. Coral stings are all toxic and there will be sensitive people so no one rule fits all.

TJ's Reef · May 4, 2014

Some people are very allergic to Palytoxins to the point of not being able to even put their hands in the aquarium without a reaction. Luckily for me nothing even with an open wound. I am unfortunately somewhat allergic to Euphyllia species if I come in contact with anything other than my fingers or palm.I'm sure you will get some great stories out of this thread.

Cheers, Todd

jdl513 · May 4, 2014

When it comes to venomous creatures that make me nervous first thing that comes to mind for me are conch.
Get stung by the wrong kind and you are in a world of trouble.

naso tang · May 4, 2014

I can't verify this, but I heard rock anemones ie maxi minis can give you a nice sting...

PaulKreider · May 4, 2014

My anemone stung me before but other than that I havn't had a bad reaction to any of my corals, We have fire coral here in Florida and I've touched it while snorkeling, its not fun!

shred5 · May 4, 2014

Well paly toxin can kill anyone if you get it in your system...
Most corals can kill someone if they are allergic to their sting..
I had anemone that stung a girl and it almost killed her... She was in the hospital for a while..

tyler1503 · May 5, 2014

Plenty of stuff in our tanks can harm us. I used to get a reaction on my forearm every time I put my hand in my tank past my wrist, even if I didn't touch anything. I'd get a red rash that itched like crazy, a few hours later it was gone. I must have built up a tolerance as it got less severe over time and I don't get it all anymore. I don't know what caused it. Maybe my skin is just more sensitive than most others.
In my regular diving spots we get lots of cone shells. They'll kill you if you don't get to a hospital quickly enough and they're available in the hobby too. Blue ring occys as well.
Bristle worms are a pain too...Literally

Flame Hawkfish · May 6, 2014

Thanks for all the help guys. I used to get a rash to on my arms whn i put them in the tank tyler1503.
Any other comments or stories would be really nice and all of the stories are interesting to hear.

Thanks guys

revhtree · May 6, 2014

Good topic!

cope413 · May 6, 2014

Just to clarify, there are technically no "venomous" corals. They can be poisonous, but none envenomate.

Venom is injected with a bite or a stinger.

Venom and Poison can be the same chemical compound - the difference is in delivery.

Now you know, and as our good friend GI Joe says, knowing is half the battle.

Mike&Terry · May 6, 2014

My torch corals have caused a significant rash/blistering on my arm on a few occasions. It took 6 weeks to clear the last time it happened.

jmac360 · May 6, 2014

the only coral that has ever hit me was a hammer and it was my fault for messing with it with open cuts on my fingers. burning stinging sensation under the skin like you can feel it in your blood

Salt Creep · May 6, 2014

cope413 said:
Just to clarify, there are technically no "venomous" corals. They can be poisonous, but none envenomate.

Venom is injected with a bite or a stinger.

Venom and Poison can be the same chemical compound - the difference is in delivery.

Now you know, and as our good friend GI Joe says, knowing is half the battle.

Venom is injected actively, which fire coral do through nematocysts in the polyps... so I think they are venomous

cope413 · May 6, 2014

Sure enough, Fire Corals are venomous... however, they aren't actually corals. Looks like they're more closely related to hydroids/jellyfish, which makes sense.

I learn something every day.

GlassMunky · May 7, 2014

naso tang said:
I can't verify this, but I heard rock anemones ie maxi minis can give you a nice sting...

Rock anemones and Maxi anemones are two COMPLETELY different animals, not even in the same genus.
But yes, all anemones have nematocysts and are able to sting.
Rock nems tend to be a very mild sting compared to other nems/corals, whereas Maxi's, or any carpet for that matter, has a very strong sting.
I've seen people with full size gigantea anemones get some serious rashes/irritation all over their arms after contact.

cdness · May 7, 2014

I was in bed from messing with Palys for 3 days... We scrubbed a friend's rock then acid bathed it. I just happened to be downwind from the container when the acid was poured in. Within a few hours, I was feeling like I had the flu, but worse. I won't get into details, but I can say I couldn't eat, drink, or be more than 10 feet away from the bathroom for 3 days.

I have been stung by a nem before, but it didn't cause more than irritation. Saltwater alone can cause issues if your skin is dry and cracking in the winter months.

Opus · May 7, 2014

I don't remember if it was on here or my local reef forum, but there was a guy that posted pictures of his face after some palys he was fragging squirted him in the eye. It was swollen shut. I also remember a guy posting a couple of years ago that he was fragging palys and his dog drank some of the water. The dog was dead by the next day.

I have very dry skin and the skin on my hands is always cracked in spots. I've felt light headed before when messing with my palys. I just take benedryl and I'm fine in half an hour. I've messed with maxi minis and they sting me but I never get a reaction.

jservedio · May 7, 2014

TJ's Reef said:
Some people are very allergic to Palytoxins to the point of not being able to even put their hands in the aquarium without a reaction. Luckily for me nothing even with an open wound. I am unfortunately somewhat allergic to Euphyllia species if I come in contact with anything other than my fingers or palm.I'm sure you will get some great stories out of this thread.

Cheers, Todd

I highly, highly doubt it is palytoxin causing an allergic reaction to those people and is likely one of the other dozens of nasty things in our tanks. Palytoxin is a protein that binds to your cells sodium-potassium pump protein in place of ouabain and shuts down passive sodium and potassium transport through the cell membrane, destroying the ion gradient causing cell death. While it is possible for aerosolized palytoxin to cause very severe flu like systems it is also doing lots of other damage to your body and any poisoning through an open cut or wound is going to be very serious, and likely deadly due to the way it works. Death is caused by amounts measured in micgrograms or less.

The most common symtom of PTX poisioning is very, VERY nasty - a breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue and leaking of intracellular fluid into the bloodstream. This isn't something you recover from quickly like an allergic reaction by taking benadryll. It causes severe damage to muscular tissue, including the heart, so a poisoning would mean permanent or long-term damage.

I am sure there are hundreds, if not thousands, of things in our aquarium water you can be allergic to, but palytoxin isn't going to be one of them. I would be willing to bet most people who think they are poisoned by palytoxin are actually reacting to something else - any of the other countless substances, bacteria, viruses, and fungus thriving in our little systems.

The few cases of true, confirmed, palytoxin poisonings from reefs were all VERY serious. It is, afterall, the second most deadly non-peptide substance on the planet...

Here is a scientific article about it: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2920541/ - really interesting stuff and really freaking scary.

SeahorseKeeper · May 7, 2014

jservedio said:
I highly, highly doubt it is palytoxin causing an allergic reaction to those people and is likely one of the other dozens of nasty things in our tanks. Palytoxin is a protein that binds to your cells sodium-potassium pump protein in place of ouabain and shuts down passive sodium and potassium transport through the cell membrane, destroying the ion gradient causing cell death. While it is possible for aerosolized palytoxin to cause very severe flu like systems it is also doing lots of other damage to your body and any poisoning through an open cut or wound is going to be very serious, and likely deadly due to the way it works. Death is caused by amounts measured in micgrograms or less.

The most common symtom of PTX poisioning is very, VERY nasty - a breakdown of skeletal muscle tissue and leaking of intracellular fluid into the bloodstream. This isn't something you recover from quickly like an allergic reaction by taking benadryll. It causes severe damage to muscular tissue, including the heart, so a poisoning would mean permanent or long-term damage.

I am sure there are hundreds, if not thousands, of things in our aquarium water you can be allergic to, but palytoxin isn't going to be one of them. I would be willing to bet most people who think they are poisoned by palytoxin are actually reacting to something else - any of the other countless substances, bacteria, viruses, and fungus thriving in our little systems.

The few cases of true, confirmed, palytoxin poisonings from reefs were all VERY serious. It is, afterall, the second most deadly non-peptide substance on the planet...

Here is a scientific article about it: Palytoxin and Analogs: Biological and Ecological Effects - really interesting stuff and really freaking scary.

Great info! Thank you for sharing!

I don't get any reactions from the corals that I keep. I do get a reaction from bristleworms. My hands and whatever comes in contact with them swell up pretty good. I also get blisters.