Sting Stories: Firsthand Experiences of Fish Envenomation Through a Small-Scale Questionnaire

Richard Harris; Silvia  L Saggiomo; Gillian Paxton; Cherie A Motti

doi:10.3390/toxins17030134

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Sting Stories: Firsthand Experiences of Fish Envenomation Through a Small-Scale Questionnaire

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Sting Stories: Firsthand Experiences of Fish Envenomation Through a Small-Scale Questionnaire

Richard Harris, Silvia L Saggiomo, Gillian Paxton and Cherie A Motti

Toxins, Vol.17(3), pp.1-17

2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins17030134

PMID: 40137907

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Abstract

fish venom

fish sting

hot water immersion

survey

pain

Stings from venomous bony and cartilaginous fishes are known to cause extreme pain in humans, and with changing migratory patterns and distributions due to climate change, human interactions with venomous fishes may increase. Therefore, developing a better understanding of venomous fish stings and the associated pain can provide better solutions for first aid and treatments, particularly in areas or within populations with a higher risk of being stung. Using the results from an online questionnaire, this study discusses the perspectives of 121 people with direct experience of fish stings, exploring the contexts in which fish stings occurred, their firsthand experiences of pain, sting pathophysiology, experiences with medical treatments, and the long-term consequences of fish stings. This small-scale survey has proved successful for the exploration of fish sting experiences, and as such, an approach of this nature should be considered to better understand victim’s experiences with other painful animal stings.

Details

Title: Sting Stories: Firsthand Experiences of Fish Envenomation Through a Small-Scale Questionnaire
Authors: Richard Harris (Corresponding Author) - Australian Institute of Marine Science
Silvia L Saggiomo (Author) - QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute
Gillian Paxton (Author) - James Cook University
Cherie A Motti (Author) - Australian Institute of Marine Science
Publication details: Toxins, Vol.17(3), pp.1-17
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date published: 2025
DOI: 10.3390/toxins17030134
ISSN: 2072-6651
PMID: 40137907
Copyright note: © 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/).
Data Availability: The original contributions presented in this study are included in the article/Supplementary Material. Further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding authors.
Organisation Unit: Centre for Bioinnovation
Language: English
Record Identifier: 991177843302621
Output Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Food Science & Technology; Toxicology