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\n\t\tA silver-cheeked toadfish after being caught by fishermen on the southern Greek island of Crete (Picture: INTIME NEWS via AP)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tA silver-cheeked toadfish after being caught by fishermen on the southern Greek island of Crete (Picture: INTIME NEWS via AP)<\/p>\n
Toxic fish with human-like teeth are invading Greece just as tourist season gets into full swing.<\/p>\n
The silver-cheeked toadfish is a torpedo-shaped species with prominent, razor sharp teeth.<\/p>\n
As well as having a vicious bite, it contains a powerful neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin, which can cause heart and lung failure, making the fish unsuitable for human consumption.<\/p>\n
Silver-cheeked toadfish (Lagocephalus sceleratus) usually inhabit the\u00a0Indian Ocean<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, the fish are believed to have travelled up the\u00a0Suez Canal\u00a0and into the Mediterranean, attracted by warming waters. <\/p>\n Fishermen in\u00a0Greece<\/a>\u00a0are now getting cash payouts to catch the fish migrating north into the Mediterranean Sea due to climate change<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tSign up for all of the latest stories\t\t\t<\/p>\n Start your day informed with Metro’s News Updates<\/a> newsletter or get Breaking News<\/a> alerts the moment it happens. <\/p>\n Authorities say the fish have not been sighted in bathing areas at Greek<\/a> island resorts. <\/p>\n But in recent weeks, the fish have wreaked havoc for fishermen off the coast of\u00a0Crete\u00a0and several other islands, chomping through nets.<\/p>\n \u2018It\u2019s got to the point where we might go out fishing one day and then spend the next three days fixing our nets,\u2019 Giorgos Kyriakakis, of a Cretan fishermen\u2019s association, told Greek public broadcaster ERT on Friday.<\/p>\n \u2018They eat our catch and damage our nets \u2014 that\u2019s very costly,\u2019 he added.<\/p>\n The invasion prompted Cyprus to launch a\u00a0similar catch program<\/a>\u00a0earlier this year.<\/p>\n Starting Friday, Greece\u2019s government<\/a> is offering \u20ac5.33 per kilogram for catches of the fish, which is normally found in tropical waters.<\/p>\n It is the first time that such a measure has been taken in Greece, Agriculture Minister Margaritis Schinas, a former\u00a0European Commission<\/a>\u00a0vice president, said ahead of the programme\u2019s launch.<\/p>\n The fish \u2013 a member of the puffer fish family \u2013 will be frozen and incinerated at local government facilities, Schinas said. <\/p>\n He added that the measure would likely be expanded from the currently affected areas to all Greek waters.<\/p>\n Public concern has been stoked in Greece by videos posted online by fishing crews, showing the fish sinking their teeth into soda cans or pieces of wood.<\/p>\n An elderly Greek woman was bitten by a pufferfish last week and required stitches to the wound. <\/p>\n She was injured while swimming off a beach in the coastal resort of Varkiza, near Athens.<\/p>\n The fish lunged at her without provocation, according to local media reports.<\/p>\n The Greek Red Cross has issued a public health<\/a> warning about the fish, outlining first-aid protocols for bleeding caused by potential bites and warning of the deadly neurotoxin in the fish\u2019s organs.<\/p>\n Nota Peristeraki, an pufferfish expert from the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, said \u2018if you see it approaching you, you really need to avoid it\u2019.<\/p>\n \u2018Some attacks have happened when people have tried to feed or touch the fish. There have been a couple of cases of people losing a finger or a toe,\u2019 he told The Telegraph<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, these incidents are rare. \u2018You are more likely to encounter a\u00a0shark,\u2019 he added. <\/p>\n Authorities and businesses on the island of Crete have cautioned against overreacting to the fish\u2019s offshore presence.<\/p>\n \u2018The presence of these fish in the Mediterranean has been known for years,\u2019 a statement issued on Friday by 16 medical and tourism associations on Crete said.<\/p>\n \u2018There is, however, no \u2018invisible\u2019 or imminent danger to bathers. Marine predators do not threaten the safety of visitors and residents,\u2019 it said. <\/p>\n \u2018Exaggeration is often a feature of public debate.\u2019<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow
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