Poisonous and Venomous Fishes of Andaman Islands, Bay of Bengal

• Description

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands with extensive fringing reefs offer an ideal habitat for a large number of fish species comprising commercial, ornamental, poisonous and venomous nature. Several recent taxonomic studies revealed the existence of more than 1200 species of marine fishes around these Islands. The occurrence of a large number of fish species, high dependency of local population on the fish resources and paucity of information on the poisonous and venomous fishes encourage study of these fishes.

The present report includes their taxonomic account along with information on habitat, distribution and the manner in which these fishes are believed to become poisonous or venomous. A brief account on the structure of venom apparatus, toxicity, symptoms and prevention of some poisonous and venomous fishes is given at the end.