True Or False

[Nano Nano1975]

TRUE OR FALSE I WAS TOLD LAST NIGHT AT MY LMS THAT BUTTON POLYPS ARE POISNOUS. IF YOU HAVE A CUT ON YOUR HAND AN TOUCH THEM THE COATING IS PIOSNOUS .I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW AS MUCH ABOUT THIS AS POSSIBLE BECAUSE I HAVE MOVED THEM (BUTTON POLYPS ) BARE HANDED ALOT I HAVE YELLOW GREEN BROWN BUTTON POLYPS THANKS FOR ANY HELP .


DAREN

[Ninong]

Check out my post here.

Palythoa produces palytoxin. Do not touch those with your bare hands, especially if you have any cuts or scratches on your hands. If you do touch them with your bare hand, do not touch your mouth with your hands until you have washed your hands thoroughly. Palytoxin is extremely toxic. BTW, not all Zoanthids are Palythoa. Also, there are no "zoos" since the name is "zoanthid," not "zooanthid." That's a common misnomer.

Unfortunately I'm terrible with common names, so I really can't give you a specific answer on the particular polyps you are considering unless you can identify them.

I'm moving this to the Reef Aquarium forum.

[Nano Nano1975]

How Toxic Are They An How Do You Know What The Signs Are If Youve Been Infected So To Speak

[Nano Nano1975]

Is There A Web Page On It ?

[Ninong]

I googled palytoxin reefkeeping and got 469 hits.

If you google just palytoxin by itself, you will get 20,700 hits.

[Ninong]

For the benefit of the thread, I will post a couple of specific links here:

Check this out: http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache...fkeeping&hl=en

You may want to read this post on another board.

Also, check out this post from January 2004 on another board:

EMERGENCY with ZOANTHIDS

About 1 and a half hour ago I was removing some Zoanthids from a rock and a couple of them exploded and the juice went to my right eye and a little in my mouth.

Immediately I washed my eyes with water and later with eyewash.

Right now I have numbness in my left hand all the way up to my elbow. Almost pain like since there is pressure and puffiness.

Should I go to a hospital? They will probably do nothing and make me wait in the emergency room for hours.

Has anyone experienced this before?

[Ninong]

Not all species are equally toxic. It's always a good idea to wear gloves when handling these guys and never touch your mouth with your hand until after you have removed the gloves and washed your hands. Wash the gloves or discard them.

[Ninong]

How Do You Know What The Signs Are If Youve Been Infected So To Speak

Numbness and a tingling sensation. A metallic taste in your mouth. Possible respiratory difficulties.

[Frag Hag]

Here are symptoms and treatment for a severe case:

http://www.cbwinfo.com/Biological/Toxins/Palytoxin.html

Since you were able to talk to the LFS guy after you handled the zoanthids, it's doubtful that you have been poisoned. However, if you had a open cut on your hand, you might want to keep an eye out for secondary infection.


Not exactly a website on zoanthid poisoning, but every aquarist should read this:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/Wound.htm

[Nano Nano1975]

No I Dont Think That I Have Piosned But It Has Deffintly Gotten My Attention An So Now I Have Made Arrange Ments To Get Rid Of Them To My Lfs Asap Thank You Guys For All Of Your Help Most Helpful.


P.s. I Will Do A Little More Research Before I Make My Next Purchuse

[greenbean36191]

It doesn't hurt to use caution with the polyps, but I think people tend to blow the risk quite a bit out of proportion. With the huge volume of zoanthids in the hobby you would expect to see at least a few serious reactions to the palytoxin over the years if it was a significant risk. There have been quite a few cases of minor reactions such as metallic tastes, tingling, or localized numbness, but so far I haven't read of a single serious reaction. There is a story of a man who smashed a zoanthid eating nudibranch and had a pretty serious reaction, which many people attribute to palytoxin, but the specifics of the story seem to point to an allergic reaction more than palytoxin.

The presence of the toxin isn't something to lose sleep over, and I wouldn't let it deter you from keeping the livestock you're interested in. Just don't work with zoanthids with open wounds and don't touch your mouth without washing your hands (which is always a good rule).

[vtec si]

As I have learned the hard way that there is a simple fix to this! Wear your GLOVES! ALWAYS! JMO!

Martin

[jasutton]

A quick FYI:
according to one of the previous links the palytoxin is in the same class as botulinum toxin...If thats true, an FYI: botox is the strongest toxin in the world being about 1000X stronger than the strongest manmade toxin-dioxin-which recently received world reknown for its use on the Ukrainian president. The attack failed but man was he messed up...google it and it will be motivation to wear gloves/use safe procedures

long life healthy reef keepers