May the DEA deliver us from the deadly piscine threat!

Ichthyosarcotoxism.

I’m ashamed to say that’s a new word for me, but I just read about it in a fascinating Scientific American discussion. While the main article was about sheep’s head fish (which have remarkably human-like teeth), the author is clearly more interested in fish that can get a person high:

…the Salema porgy, also of the Sparidae family and nicknamed the dreamfish, was reportedly used for recreational hallucinogenic purposes in the Mediterranean during the Roman Empire and has played a role in traditional Polynesian ceremonies. Along with a handful of other fish, the flesh of the Salema porgy can sometimes inflict ichthyosarcotoxism on those who eat it, which is a very rare form of poisoning caused by the toxins of a tiny species of marine plankton called Gambierdiscus toxicus. This poisoning from contaminated fish flesh prompts intense hallucinations and terrifying nightmares that can last for several days.

As reported by Luc de Haro and Philip Pommier from the Centre Antipoison of the Hôpital Salvator in Marseille, France, in a 2006 issue of Clinical Toxicology, a 90-year-old man ate a Salema porgy in Saint Tropez in 2002 and two hours later was hallucinating and having nightmares about people and birds screaming, which lasted a further two nights. He literally thought he was losing his mind. “Fearing that these symptoms might signal the beginning of a major mental illness, he did not tell his friends or attending physician. The manifestations abated three days after he had eaten the fish,” de Haro and Pommier report.

Prior to that, a 40-year-old man also fell victim to ichthyosarcotoxism while holidaying in the French Riviera and had hallucinations of screaming animals and giant, menacing spiders surrounding his car.  In 2009, a fisherman named Andy Giles caught one in the English Channel, which is unusual because they usually keep to warm waters of the Mediterranean and African west coast, and told the Daily Telegraph, “Now I realise what it was and the effects it can have, perhaps I should have taken it into town to sell to some clubbers!” Andy lol.

Fascinated, I looked for a Wiki page on ichthyosarcotoxism, and was directed to a different term.

Ichthyoallyeinotoxism.

Ichthyoallyeinotoxism, or hallucinogenic fish poisoning, comes from eating certain species of fish found in several parts of the tropics. The effects of eating ichthyoallyeinotoxic fishes are reputed to be similar in some aspects to LSD. Experiences may include vivid auditory and visual hallucinations. This has given rise to the collective common name “dream fish” for ichthyoallyeinotoxic fish.

The species most commonly claimed to be capable of producing this kind of toxicity include several species from the Kyphosus genus, including Kyphosus fuscus, K. cinerascens and K. vaigiensis.^{[citation needed]} It is unclear whether the toxins are produced by the fish themselves or by marine algae in their diet, but a dietary origin may be more likely.^{[citation needed]}

Sarpa salpa, a species of bream, can induce LSD-like hallucinations if it is eaten.^[1] These widely distributed coastal fish^[2] became a recreational drug during the Roman Empire, and are called “the fish that make dreams” in Arabic. In 2006, two men who ate fish, apparently the Sarpa salpa caught in the Mediterranean were affected by ichthyoallyeinotoxism and experienced hallucinations lasting for several days.^[3][4]

Other hallucinogenic fish are Siganus spinus,^[5] called “the fish that inebriates” in Reunion Island, and Mulloides flavolineatus (formerly Mulloidichthys samoensis),^[6] called “the chief of ghosts” in Hawaii ^[7]

Well now that is interesting. I’m sure that certain inquiring minds have wondered where they can get some. There is some speculation about what substances might be involved at a site called the Shrooomery Message Board, where someone was nice enough to upload this picture of a psychedelic fish:

And one jokester there has so little respect for the sainted DEA Mutaween (who fight for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vices by waging a holy jihad to keep Americans safe from all pernicious substances wherever found) that he actually mocks them! (Gasp!)

NEWS UPDATE
“Large hallucinogenic fish epidemic, people are now going fishing for a trip. The FDA and DEA have agreed to placed this fish as a schedule 1 substance.”

To be fair, the DEA has not put hallucinogenic fish on any controlled substances list as of this time. It’s probably just in a “watched” category for now. But if they ever become popular like they once were in the Roman Empire, you can be sure that more of our tax dollars will be spent to keep us safe from these fish, whether we want to be or not.

Hey, don’t laugh! These dangerous “LSD fish” are reported to be “lured north due to climate change” where they will wreak havoc with impressionable youth!

Laws are needed now — before it is too late and these fish become a crisis akin to the nation’s toad-sucking epidemic. Fortunately, the DEA placed toad toxins on the controlled substances list, which protects people like this would-be toad sucker by putting him in jail.

And thank God for that! Otherwise, we might have all succumbed to toad-sucking by now!