Sleepingfingers;92232 said:
Its muscle tissue is certainly poisonous. It however poses no threat unless ingested. I don't believe that anyone has died from these little buggers.
to TONMO, but I'd very much like to know what grounds you have for making a sweeping statement like this. The first I've heard of any research on the potential toxicity is on the Nova TV show this week, as far as I can tell, this is otherwise unpublished research. Can you cite a study that shows that there have been cases of
Metasepia biting humans that have not caused any problems?
I don't mean to be harsh, but this is your first post on TONMO, and people do come here to find out information about these animals, possibly because they are interacting with them. If someone has bought a flamboyant cuttlefish in a fish store, I think it's very important that they get accurate information on the possible lethality of the animal.
If you have inside knowledge of the details of the toxicity of
metasepia, please share; I already put my foot in my mouth a bit on this topic in another thread because of the Nova show that reported this in a vague and confusing way, and just went back, re-watched it, took notes, tried searching in google and google scholar, in an effort to find solid answers about this. However, if you don't have hard evidence to back up your claims, please do not claim to have the absolute truth on topics that could result in someone being killed.
Thanks, and I don't mean to be unfriendly, just to make sure that we err on the side of caution in areas that may be life-or-death.