Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
i know this is a little off topic but i have a question that does fall into "venomous and maybe BGF could answer or anybody,
recently i found that a scientific supply company has Portugese man or wars preserved in formaldehyde for dissection ect. now arent these still capable of inflicting a dangerous sting? or does the formaldehyde dilute the toxicity? i know i saw on TV a kid accidently drinking tentacles and almost dying.
thanks for the info,
Kevin

>>Hi,
>>i know this is a little off topic but i have a question that does fall into "venomous and maybe BGF could answer or anybody,
>>recently i found that a scientific supply company has Portugese man or wars preserved in formaldehyde for dissection ect. now arent these still capable of inflicting a dangerous sting? or does the formaldehyde dilute the toxicity?

I would be quite suprised if the tentacles were still capable of firing. Also, since most sea jelly toxins are large, globular enzymes that break down rather easily, I'd also be suprised if the toxins were still active.

>i know i saw on TV a kid accidently drinking tentacles and almost dying.

That was this sort of scenario. Those were freshly collected box jellyfish tentacles, collected by Queensland surf lfe savers to help out research. However, some bright spark thought it'd be a good idea to store them in the fridge in a coke bottle!!!!! A juniour life saver returned from patrol, went to the staff fridge, sucked down a coke and got a very unpleasent suprise!!

Cheers
Bryan
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Dr. Bryan Grieg Fry
Deputy Director
Australian Venom Research Unit
University of Melbourne

www.venomdoc.com