As reported earlier today, a Sarpa salpa fish has been caught in British waters, the first one since 1983 and the fourth one ever reported from the United Kingdom. The fish received a lot of attention, not only for being so far out of its normal range but also for being, well – far out in general. Sarpa salpa sports golden stripes along its body and can cause hallucinations in humans when ingested; hallucinations that may last for several days.

For anyone interested in knowing more about this remarkable little fish, researchers Pommier and de Haro of the Toxicovigilance Centre Antipoison at Marseille’s Hospital Salvator have conducted a clinical study on two patients who started seeing and hearing strange and frightening things after dining on Sarpa salpa in southern France.

According to the study, which was published in the journal Clinical Toxicology in 2006, ichthyoallyeinotoxism –i.e. hallucinogenic fish poisoning – can occur when you eat the head or body parts of certain species of herbivorous fish which in turn have been devouring large amounts of certain algae or phytoplankton. The substances believed to be responsible for the long-lasting trips are known as indoles and their effect on the human brain is similar to that of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD).

Sarpa salpa is not the only fish capable of causing vivid hallucinations and nightmares in unsuspecting dinner guests; several species of tangs, damsels, mullet, goatfish and

rabbitfish can give you a similar experience if they have been eating large amounts of algae or phytoplankton filled with indoles. Ichthyoallyeinotoxic fishes are colloquially referred to as ”dream fishes” and until 2006 ichthyoallyeinotoxism had only been reported from the Indo-Pacific.

The two men studied by Pommier and de Haro suffered from CNS disturbances including terrifying hallucinations and nightmares after being served Sarpa salpa in a Mediterranean restaurant. One of them, a 90-year old man, suffered from auditory hallucinations a couple of hours after eating Sarpa salpa, followed by two nights of vivid nightmares. The second man, a 40-year-old, was admitted to hospital after developing not only terrifying visual and auditory hallucinations but digestive problems as well. For him, the psychedelic experiences didn’t trickle away until 36 hours later.

The popular food fish Sarpa salpa is normally not hallucinogenic but if you do get poisoned your mind might start playing tricks on you within minutes and the effects may last for several days; usually without causing any other health problems. There is no antidote. According to the paper, ancient Mediterranean’s used Sarpa salpa as a recreational drug during the reign of the Roman Empire.

We still know very little about the possibly mind-altering effects of algae-eating fish and there are reports of certain fish species, e.g. Kyphosus fuscus, containing even more potent hallucinogens than indoles, such as dimethyltryptamine (DMT).

For more details see the paper: de Haro L, Pommier P (2006) –

Hallucinatory fish poisoning (ichthyoallyeinotoxism): two case reports from the Western Mediterranean and literature review. Clin Toxicol (Phila). 2006;44(2):185-8.

According to the journal Surgery, a 50 cm (20 in) eel was removed from a man’s rectum at the Kwong Wah Hospital in Kowloon, Hong Kong.

The 50-year old man was admitted to the Accident and Emergency Department complaining about abdominal pain.

European Eel – Picture by Ron Offermans; GNU

Doctors diagnosed him with peritonitis, inflammation of the peritoneum*, and did an x-ray to find out the underlying cause. Interestingly enough, what they saw on the x-ray was an eel stuck inside the man’s rectum.

The eel was still alive and biting the patient’s splenic flexure, which is a sharp bend located between the transverse and the descending colon. Doctors also found a 3 cm perforation over the anterior wall of the rectum.

“On further questioning,” says the paper, “the patient admitted an eel was inserted into the rectum in an attempt to relieve constipation. This may be related to a bizarre healthcare belief, inadvertent sexual behaviour, or criminal assault. However, the true reason may never be known.”

The patient was released from hospital a week later. We have been unable to find any information about what happened to the eel.

* The peritoneum is a serous membrane that forms the lining of the abdominal cavity or the coelom.

Otto the Octopus, an eight-armed resident of the Sea Star Aquarium in Germany, baffled his caregivers by deliberately short-circuiting an annoyingly bright light that shone into his otherwise cosy aquarium.

According to staff, the marine exhibition began to suffer from mysterious blackouts to which the puzzled electricians could not find any reasonable explanation. This prompted the aquarium staff to take shifts sleeping on the floor in hope of solving the mystery. “It was a serious matter because it shorted the electricity supply to the whole aquarium that threatened the lives of the other animals when water pumps ceased to work,” a spokesman of the aquarium explains.

During the third night, a befuddled aquarium crew found out the reason behind the incidents – an annoyed octopus that had realised that he could extinguish the irritating lamp by climbing onto the rum of his tank and squirting a jet of water at it.

“We knew that he was bored as the aquarium is closed for winter, and at two feet, seven inches Otto had discovered he was big enough to swing onto the edge of his tank and shoot out a the 2000 Watt spot light above him with a carefully directed jet of water“, says the spokes man.

Octopuses are clever and curious animals and they can easily grow bored in captivity. If you wish to keep an octopus, it is very important to constantly provide it with challenging tasks and things to explore to keep it happy and healthy. An octopus must also have suitable caves or similar in the aquarium where it can relive stress, carry out its natural behaviours – and hide from pesky lights. You can read more about octopuses in captivity here.