Is this just a sea plume?

[frndrfoe]

In Key Largo one of these brushed my leg and it gave me a bit of a sting. During the trip I developed a grayed out area in the vision in my left eye. I went to an ophthalmologist today and they said that my optic nerve was swollen. I spent the next 5 hours getting tests done that I do not have results from yet. Is this plant host to some neurotoxin that I should be aware of and drop the Doc a hint? I'm 90% sure this is what brushed me.

 

[DocVikingo]

Bummer, frndrfoe.

That certainly is a sea plume of genus Pseudopterogorgia, most probably Pseudopterogorgia bipinnata. These can have stinging cells (cnidocytes) dwelling on the ends of their branches. Envenomation can cause "a bit of a sting," and sometimes worse. However, reaction to such envenomation would be expected to be largely localized to the area of contact. To the best of my admittedly limited knowledge, "grayed out" vision in a portion of one eye and papilledema (swelling of the optic nerve) would not be anticipated solely on the basis of an isolated sting to the leg.

Best of luck.

Regards,

DocVikingo

 

[frndrfoe]

Thanks for the reply, I suspect that the problem is likely not related to anything scuba.