Dangerous Critters To Avoid?

[Kiridashi]

Hi Guys,

I'm an American that has spent his entire life living a thousand miles from the sea and about 7 months ago I moved to Cebu. So I have almost no experience with marine life and I am wondering if anyone has a site/thread, or any recommendations of species I should avoid.

I've been trying to do some research in my freetime but I'm not having much luck identifying dangerous critters in this area. I've read some jellyfish do minor stings, some can kill....now each time I come across a jellyfish I feel like someone is waving a gun in my face and I don't know if it is loaded or not.

I checked out that link to poppe-images.com for Philippines marine life and I saw there was a "dangerous" category but it doesn't specify the danger. I saw a couple that said "very dangerous" but when I do a net search I can't find any info on them grr.

I know enough to avoid touching urchins, jellies, anemones, and don't tick off the sea snakes or eels... but thats about it. Are there any lil fish that tend to like to chomp off your fingers? (I don't wear rings) Any stinging creatures that can cause intense pain and/or death?


For now I am just snorkeling/freediving so I'm more concerned with shalllow water critters...but I do plan to scuba later this year.

Sorry for the ignorant question and thank you for any help you can offer.

(ps I've been trying forums searches but no luck thus far....might not be hitting on the right phrases)

 

[eagerbeaver]

Hi Kiridashi, welcome.... doesn't someone say the only stupid question...etc etc, so don't be shy!

It really depends a lot on where you are snorkelling...there isnt really much in the water, floating around, that will GET you. The Jellies here are not really dangerous, they sting and it can hurt but unless you have a reaction the pain will fade in a few days - worst case you might have a rash for a few days.

Pretty much everything else that could hurt you is based on the bottom here, so good rule of thumb is dont touch anything.

The worst things are the kind you step on accidently like scorpion fish, demon stingers, crown of thorns starfish. So be careful where you walk.

In general it is quite hard to get killed or severely hurt here without pissing something off or not looking where you're going/what you're doing.

I'm sure there'll be plenty more folks along to add stuff so I'll stop there.

HTH

Matt.

 

[Karl_H]

As Matt says most of the 'dangerous' critters tend to be bottom dwellers, the main fish to look out for would be the titan Triggerfish during Nesting Season (usually July/August). They become very territorial and supposedly the territory is marked out by a cone which gets bigger as the water gets shallower. This seems slightly odd that at the depth of the the nest it is protecting the territory is the smallest but I can vouch if you go upwards they definitely follow you! Hopefully you won't encounter any at snorkeling depths but if you see one swimming on it's side I'd recommend a hasty get away as the last thing you want is a trigger fish attack from below when you're snorkeling

Other than the trigger fish the main 'bite' fish have to be clown/anenomie fish and sergeant majors - those things have an evil streak in them!!! Luckily it's just a slight nip but can be a bit of a shock and occasionally can draw blood. Anyone who has been happily engaged in taking a photo of something and had a nearby clown fish take a disliking to any exposed skin will know what I'm talking about

 

[eagerbeaver]

Nice one Karl...Trigger fish is only a few steps down from a killer! Can't believe I forgot that

 

[Babydamulag]

Amazon.com: Reef Fish Identification - Tropical Pacific (9781878348364): Gerald Allen, Roger Steene, Paul Humann, Ned DeLoach: Books

 

[CODMAN]

Yup, this book will pretty much teach you 99% of what can be dangerous. it's a great book too. Great to have...

Also dangerous... In the bars, anything sporting a miniskirt and having an adam apple....

Amazon.com: Reef Fish Identification - Tropical Pacific (9781878348364): Gerald Allen, Roger Steene, Paul Humann, Ned DeLoach: Books

 

[Manuel Sam]

Since you also mentioned freediving and perhaps eventual scuba, you should be aware of other dangerous bottom-dwelling creatures.

On my recent trip to Malapascua and Dumaguete, I saw several cone shells cruising on the bottom. The sting of some species of cone shells can be deadly - especially Conus Geographus. Conus Textile has also been implicated in human deaths.

Cone shells, like many cowrie shells, can be very pretty, and therefore tempting to a shell collector. The scary part is that to the unknowing or to those who are fairly new to these waters, cone shells could be confused with some cowrie shells. Cowries, on the other hand and as best as I know, are harmless.

Not all cone shells are venomous, mind you, but unless you can make a positive ID, as Matt Reed suggested, it is best to just avoid touching anything altogether.

Another creature I was very fortunate to encounter during my trip was the Blue-Ring Octopus, which also packs a deadly sting or bite.

This having been my first sighting ever, I don't know enough about its behavior. I would speculate, however, that the blue rings are not flashed unless disturbed.....which is to say that until you have learned to distinguish one type of octopus from another, maybe it's best to leave them all alone. About the only clue I can give you is that Blue-Rings tend to be smallish, so if you see an octopus whose head is bigger than let's say 4 inches in diameter, chances are that it is not a Blue-Ring.

Keep in mind that for the most part, the creatures listed throughout this thread - with the titan triggerfish a possible exception, but I'm sure that there are others - do not have a nasty streak in them and will not attack unprovoked. They are mostly non-aggressive and will run or hide rather than fight.

There is an older and rather inexpensive book that I bought thru DAN (I think) many years ago, copyright 1987. Perhaps there is a later version. It is called "A Medical Guide to Hazardous Marine Life" by Paul Auerbach.

Last word of advice is to shuffle your feet if you're wading in shallow waters - maybe you'll create enough disturbance to drive the stingrays and scorpionfish away.

Good luck.

 

[Kiridashi]

Thanks for the welcome and info guys!

I haven't come across a Scorpionfish, or Devilfish yet but when I did a search for Triggerfish some of the images looked like fish I have seen...although I don't think I've seen a Titan Triggerfish yet...the markings look different than I remember ( I need to buy an underwater cam). The ones I've seen had brighter markings than a Titan...I think. I did run across one of those Crown Of Thorns Starfish about 2 weeks ago...either in Olango or Pandanon...I think it was Olango. It looked like it was saying "touch me...I dare you" so I kept my distance.

I was surprised to see the Clown Fish and Sergeant Majors bite. I've come across many clown fish and I tend to sit there and wiggle my fingers at them to watch them move around. I would have been a bit (no pun intended) surprised if one latched onto me. I think I've seen the Sergeant Majors....I've seen a few thousand fish that look like the images I see online, but at this point I'm not good at picking out the details to do a thorough classification. All I know is there are a lot of fish with that general color/shape around Mactan in schools...but it may be a dif species.

Again thanks for the info guys and I will try to pick up a copy of the book...it looks very informative.

As for the bar predator with an adams apple and miniskirt....lol....I thankfully know enough to avoid them.

 

[Kiridashi]

Thanks Manuel Sam,

I'm not familiar with a cone shell but in my ignorance I probably would have assumed it was safe to touch.

Octopi are something I have always liked the looks of and would like to see, so I need to learn more about them. I had read the blue ring octopus was dangerous but in the pictures they showed it having blue rings...I didn't think of the fact it may not always be flashing blue rings.

I do tend to shuffle my feet...and wear Aqua Socks...and try to peer through the water for urchins...so hopefully this will help. I'm not sure if the Aqua Socks will stop an urchins sting, or anything else for that matter, but thought it worth a try.

 

[Manuel Sam]

Kiridashi,

You are welcome.

I don't know if urchin spines will go thru Aqua Socks but I've seen urchin spines go thru 5mm wetsuits. Do the Aqua Socks have a harder sole?

Assuming I attached them correctly, here are a couple of pictures of the Blue-Ring with prominent and with less prominent rings. The one in which it shows less of the rings was nonetheless after it took us thru a marathon swim, so it was not necessarily fully at rest. I would imagine that like all other octopi, if at rest and in its full camouflage suit, the Blue-Ring would be even less conspicuous and perhaps show even less of the rings.