Identification of the cause in accidents with venomous aquatic animals

		Distribution		Characteristics	Venom effects	Biomedical database Diagnosis & Treatment
		Fresh water	Marine environment	Characteristics	Venom effects	Biomedical database Diagnosis & Treatment
Injury due to extensive contact/abrasion
	Hard consistency Stony corals Fire corals		tropical and subtropical reef areas	sessile; often extend over large areas; stable calcium carbonate skeleton; highly variable growth forms, from flat to highly branched	generally only local	Biomedical database, Diagnosis & Treatment
	Spongious/elastic consistency Sponges		medically significant species in the coastal waters of the Caribbean and the Pacific	sessile, solitary or in colonies; variable growth forms, flat, barrel-, pipe- and cup-shaped forms; porous surface	generally only local	Biomedical database
	Feather hydroids		tropical to cool coastal zones	sessile; feather-like form; flexible, chitin-like supporting skeleton	generally only local	Biomedical database, Diagnosis & Treatment
	Soft or gelatinous consistency Jellyfish		tropical to cold seas and oceans	free-swimming, in areas close to the coast or in the open sea; no supporting skeleton; many colourless, transparent species; consist of a bell and attached tentacles that may be up to several meters in length	often only local effects, but some species cause severe systemic effects	Biomedical database, Diagnosis & Treatment
	Anemones		tropical to cold coastal areas; often in the intertidal zone	flower-like animals with no supporting skeleton; consist of a sessile pedal disk (foot) with a crown of tentacles on top	generally only local	Biomedical database, Diagnosis & Treatment
	Marine worms Bristle worms		tropical to warm oceans	elongated, segmented body; fine bristles along the sides of the body; largest specimens 1–3 m	generally only local	Biomedical database
Injury due to puncture wound/bite
	Barely noticeable wounds/bites Cone shells		primarily tropical coastal areas of the Indian and Pacific Oceans	marine snails with shells in the form of a rolled cone; shells often have striking patterns; largest species up to 15 cm; can be dangerous if handled (they are sought after by collectors); sting barely noticeable	hardly any local effects; can be severe systemic effects	Biomedical database
	Octopuses, in particular: Blue-ringed octopus		generally in tropical to cold seas and oceans; Blue-ringed octopus in coastal waters of Australia	typical octopus form with a "head" and 8 arms; brownish colour with luminous blue rings	Blue-ringed octopus: hardly any local effects, but severe systemic effects; other species: generally only local	Biomedical database
	Sea snakes	river mouths and further upstream; Indo-Pacific region; in Lake Taal, Philippines, and Lake Tegano, Solomon Islands	coastal waters of the Indo-Pacific, from the Persian Gulf eastwards to Japan and southwards to Australia; one species in the open sea as well as on the east coast of Africa and the west coast of Central America	differ from snake-like fishes in that they have no fins or gills; in contrast to terrestrial snakes they have a laterally flattened tail; most common in the shallow coastal waters of Southeast Asia, New Guinea and Australia; bite marks often barely visible	hardly any local effects, but severe systemic effects	Biomedical database Diagnosis & Treatment
	Painful puncture wounds Numerous small injuries Sea urchins and starfish (Crown-of-thorns starfish)		venomous sea urchins in tropical and warm zones of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans; Crown-of-thorns starfish in coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific	bottom-dwelling; venomous sea urchins among both long- and short-spined species; following injuries with long-spined species broken-off spine tips may remain under the skin; Crown-of-thorns starfish covered in massive spines; animals have a diameter of up to 40 cm; large puncture wounds	generally only local, but sometimes also systemic effects	Sea urchins, Crown-of-thorns starfish
	Single puncture wounds Fish	Catfishes throughout the world in rivers and lakes stingrays in rivers in South America	tropical to cold seas and oceans; greatest variety of dangerous species in tropical coastal waters	many bottom-dwelling species, which sometimes bury themselves or hide in crevices and often have camouflage colouring; some species also in the intertidal zone; accidents occur not only in the water, but also while fishing or preparing the fish	often only local effects, but some species also cause systemic effects	Biomedical database Diagnosis & Treatment