The fang-blenny fish is a member of a family of fish called combtooth blennies, of which there are 400 known members. Combtooth blennies are found in tropical and subtropical waters in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. the fish have blunt heads and eyes are large, with large continuous dorsal fins. The bodies of the fish are compressed, elongated, and scaleless.
One member of the family, the fang-blenny, is quite remarkable. the fish has sharp, fang-like teeth. However, when it bites the victim does not feel anything at all. The reason has remained a mystery until recently. Researchers from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine together with scientists from the University of Queensland have worked out how this fish with sharp fangs delivers a pain-free bite. The marine biologists discovered that the fang-blenny, which is a tiny reef-dwelling fish, has a venom that is laced with pain-killing chemicals. These chemicals are similar to heroin.
The fish tends to use its unusual bite for defense. According to the magazine Science, blenny venom causes the victim’s blood pressure to fall by around 40 percent for a short period of time. This acts to slow-down a would-be predator (such as grouper fish) allowing the tiny blenny fish to escape. If a human is bitten, study co-author Bryan Fry states, the venom “can produce sensations of extremely unpleasant nausea and dizziness.”
The findings are published in the journal Current Biology and provide an example of the medical secrets that are hidden in our oceans. The research paper is titled “The Evolution of Fangs, Venom, and Mimicry Systems in Blenny Fishes.”
