SILVER-CHEEKED TOADFISH - NEW THREAT IN MEDITERRANEAN WATERS

ATHENS, June 20 /SRNA/ – The silver-cheeked toadfish is as a new marine threat in the Mediterranean Sea, a species whose extremely sharp teeth destroy fishing nets and tear apart catches, which is even capable of biting off a diver’s or swimmer’s finger.

The fish also contains a powerful neurotoxin, tetrodotoxin, which can cause heart and respiratory failure, making it unsafe for human consumption, Britain’s The Telegraph reported. An elderly Greek woman was bitten by the fish this week and required several stitches. She was swimming near a beach in the resort town of Varkiza, not far from Athens, when the fish suddenly attacked her. The incident is the latest in a series of similar cases reported in Greece, where the species has no natural predators and is reproducing rapidly. Nota Peristeraki, an expert at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, said some attacks occurred when people attempted to feed or touch the fish. She noted that there have been cases in which people lost fingers or toes, although such incidents remain rare. Fisherman Alexis Charalambakis from Crete said the fish are devastating marine ecosystems, leaving little behind. In Cyprus, fishermen receive a cash reward for every captured specimen they bring ashore, where the fish are destroyed in special waste-treatment facilities. Greece is considering introducing a similar programme in an effort to reduce the species’ population. The silver-cheeked toadfish was first recorded in the eastern Mediterranean in 2003 and appeared in Greek waters two years later. In recent years, both its population and geographical range have expanded rapidly toward Italy, Spain, and the western Mediterranean. In Greece, the species is particularly widespread around the island of Crete and the Dodecanese islands, including the popular tourist destination of Rhodes.