Because the Mediterranean Sea is smaller in size compared to the great oceans of the planet, it does not mean that it is exempt from harboring fearsome beings in its waters, dangerous animals of the Mediterranean.
There are many species that can cause problems due to their stings, stings, electric shocks and even dangerous bites. Although the latter is the most unusual.
To show you several examples, continue reading this article on our site to learn more about the dangerous animals of the Mediterranean. Don't forget to comment and share your experiences!
Stinging Animals
In the Mediterranean Sea there are various kinds of jellyfish and other stinging species such as the anemones and the sea tomato. Currently up to 15 species of jellyfish have been detected in Mediterranean waters.
However, of all these animals the most dangerous of all is the jellyfish called: Portuguese man-of-war, with a body of up to 30 cm. in diameter, but whose tentacles can measure 10 meters. The poison it harbors in the nemastocytes is very painful and causes neurotoxic, cytotoxic and cardiotoxic problems, which can lead to death
Other types of jellyfish found in the Mediterranean Sea are: sea wasps, cannonballs, moon jellyfish, luminescent jellyfish, giant jellyfish, immortal jellyfish, among others.
Image of a Portuguese man-of-war:
Poisonous Thorns
In the Mediterranean Sea there are a number of fish endowed with poisonous spines that they use as defensive weapons. The most relevant species are:
Spider: The spider buries itself in the sand on the lookout for small prey that pass by. It has poisonous spines on its dorsal fin and on the opercula that cover its gills
Rat: The rat has a spider-like arrangement of its poisonous spines. This arrangement is general among all fish that have this type of spines
Scorpionfish: The scorpionfish, with its appearance of a rock covered in algae, also has its venomous spikes on its dorsal fin and operculum
Rascacio: The scorpion fish resembles the scorpion fish in everything
These fish They are dangerous even dead On one occasion, while cleaning a spider, I pricked myself with the barb of one of its opercula, suffering a very intense and prolonged pain. Before cleaning these fish, cut and discard these poisonous spikes as a precaution.
Image of a scorpion fish:
The Stingers
Fish that have poisonous stingers are rays There are several varieties, the largest and most spectacular is the manta ray, also called eagle Marine. Despite its enormous size (there are specimens with a wingspan of 4m), it is probably the least dangerous of all as it does not have any poisonous stinger.
The smaller stripes do incorporate this element so dangerouson its tail. The most frequent species of ray are: the common stingray, the starry ray, the clove ray, the rosemouth ray, the rough ray, the purple stingray and the butterfly ray.
Nail stripe image:
Large predators
In the Mediterranean Sea there are up to 90 species of sharks, but the vast majority of them are small and do not attack humans.
However, in the Mediterranean Sea there are also large predators The largest shark found in the Mediterranean is thegreat shark , which we call silky shark. These large sharks are found in the easternmost waters of the Mediterranean Sea (Italy, Greece and Turkey).
One of the most common is a shark called Blue Shark, also known as the Blue Shark. It is currently threatened by overfishing. Another threatened shark is the porbeagle It can measure 3.5 m. and dolphins are part of its diet, since it is a very fast and aggressive shark.
The hammerhead sharks of the smallest species are found in Balearic waters. The dogfish is another highly endangered shark. The particularity of this shark is that on its back it has very sharp poisonous spines.
Despite the existence of sharks in the Mediterranean, there are hardly any records of attacks against humans.
Image of a dogfish:
Foreign fish and other dangerous animals
Near Suez the presence of the dangerous lionfish has been observed. This species belongs to the Red Sea, but some specimens have been detected in the Mediterranean Sea.
Another very dangerous animal is the cone snail This snail uses insulin as a poison, even being able to kill a man by hypoglycemic shock (causes blood sugar to drop abruptly). All cone snails are poisonous, but the most dangerous of them is the so-called Conus geographus, known as "cigarette cone" since it is said that after its sting there is only time to smoke a cigarette before dying.
There is no antidote, since apart from insulin it carries various very powerful toxins that paralyze its prey. It is considered as one of the most poisonous animals in the world. This snail has great scientific value, since a series of revolutionary substances for human he alth have been extracted.
Cone snail image:
