Touchy fish zaps owner- Poisonous fin puts him in hosp

Touchy fish zaps owner- Poisonous fin puts him in hosp -
BY RICHARD WEIR and OWEN MORITZ
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
A tropical fish hobbyist was almost fin-ished by one of his pets.
The East Rockaway man was working on his aquarium Tuesday night when his left hand touched the dorsal fin of an exotic fish with the expansive name of one spot foxface rabbitfish, local authorities said.

In a matter of seconds, Thomas Adelis, 19, let out a scream that echoed down Nicholas Ave. as the fish's venom entered his left index finger.

First his finger swelled up, then his hand - and that's when he called for an ambulance, Adelis told WCBS Channel 2 news.

He was rushed to South Nassau Communities Hospital where he was treated and released.

Officials said Adelis should have known - and maybe did know - that the rabbitfish's dorsal fins must be handled with extreme care because they are poisonous. The rabbitfish, with a black-and-white face and a yellow body, grows as big as 8 inches and lives as long as five years.

Experts say the fish is a good choice for a beginner with large aquarium because it gets along with tank mates - just not other rabbitfish.

With the scientific name of Siganus unimaculatus, the species comes from the Western Pacific, Western Australia and the Philippines.



A little correction to this story; The picture shown is of a Fox Face, not a Rabbit Fish, but they closly related and both poisonous with a neuro-toxin, although neither usually inject enough to be fatal in adults (I have been stung myself by Foxface).

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