Trachinus Vipera Research Articles

Lesser weever fish (Echiichthys vipera Cuvier, 1829) venom is cardiotoxic but not haemorrhagic

Despite comprising over half of the biodiversity of living venomous vertebrates, fish venoms are comparatively understudied. Venom from the lesser weever fish (Echiichthys vipera syn. Trachinus vipera) has received only cursory attention despite containing one of the most potent venom toxins (trachinine). Literature records are further complicated by early studies combining the venom with that of the related greater weever (Trachinus draco). The current study used a chicken chorioallantoic membrane assay to investigate venom bioactivity following the application of measured quantities of crude venom to a major bilateral vein at 1 cm distance from the heart. The venom had a dose-dependent effect on survival rate and exhibited dose-dependent cardiotoxic properties at day six of development. Crude E. vipera triggered tachycardia at doses of 37.58 and 44.88 μg/μL and bradycardia at 77.4 μg/μL. The three highest doses (65.73, 77.4 and 151.24 μg/μL) caused significant mortality. These data also suggested intra-specific variation in E. vipera venom potency. Unlike a number of other piscine venoms, E. vipera venom was not haemorrhagic at the concentrations assayed.

Inhibition of Colon Carcinoma Cell Migration Following Treatment with Purified Venom from Lesser Weever Fish (Trachinus Vipera)

Background: Injury by the sting of Lesser weever fish (Trachinus vipera) may lead to severe pain, edema or tissue necrosis. Cellular effects of the venom are still incompletely understood. Previous observations revealed that purified Lesser weever fish venom (LWFV) induces suicidal death of erythrocytes and HCT116 human colon carcinoma cells. The present study addressed the effect of the venom on colon carcinoma cell toxicity, shape and migration both in p53^+/+ and/or p53^-/- conditions. Methods: Cells were exposed to medium without or with 500 µg/ ml LWFV. Cell shape, cell area and circularity were visualized and quantified by fluorescence microscopy. Cell volume, granularity and cells toxicity were assessed via the apoptotic parameters dissipation of mitochondrial inner transmembrane potential, phosphatidylserine surface exposure and cell membrane permeabilization were measured utilizing flow cytometry. Cell migration was evaluated using wound healing assay and two-dimensional migration assay. Results: LWFV treatment was followed by a marked change of cell shape and size, significant decrease of cell area and circularity, significant impairment of cell migration, as well as induction of apoptosis after long exposition. Conclusions: LWFV exposure leads to cell shrinkage, increased granularity, apoptosis and impairment of cell migration, effects presumably contributing to LWFV-induced tissue injury.

Purified Lesser weever fish venom (Trachinus vipera) induces eryptosis, apoptosis and cell cycle arrest.

Accidents caused by the sting of Trachinus vipera (known as Lesser weever fish) are relatively common in shallow waters of the Mediterranean. Symptoms after the sting vary from severe pain to edema or even tissue necrosis in some cases. Here we show that purified Lesser weever fish venom induces eryptosis, the suicidal erythrocyte death, and apoptosis of human colon carcinoma cells. The venom leads to erythrocyte shrinkage, phosphatidylserine translocation and increased intracellular Ca2+, events typical for eryptosis. According to mitochondrial staining cancer cells dyed after the activation of the intrinsic apoptotic pathway. Trachinus vipera venom further causes cell cycle arrest.

SURVIVAL ESTIMATES OF BYCATCH INDIVIDUALS DISCARDED FROM BIVALVE DREDGES

The fate of released bycatch is an issue of great interest for fisheries research and management. Survival experiments were carried out to assess the survival capacity of animals damaged and discarded during clam dredging operations. Three common bycatch species, two fish (Trachinus vipera; Dicologlossa cuneata) and one crab (Polybius henslowii), were collected during the sorting of catches from a commercial dredging boat. An arbitrary score scale was used to quantify the type and extent of damage to the organisms. Onboard, damaged individuals were placed in tanks containing seawater which were subsequently transferred to the laboratory. Survival experiments were conducted during the subsequent 48h. D. cuneata exhibited the lowest mortality after 48h (54%), followed by P. henslowii (65%) and T. vipera (81%). Despite the magnitude of the percentage mortalities determined, the average number of individuals estimated to die during a 15 minutes tow (standard commercial fishing time) was relatively small: 1.2, 3.24 and 11 for D. cuneata, T. vipera and P. henslowii, respectively. Nevertheless, when these figures are extrapolated to cover all the dredging fleet the impact of this practice on the populations of the species studied can be significant, particulary for D. cuneata.

Identification of marine fish egg predators using molecular probes

Mortality during the egg and larval stages is thought to play a major role in determining year-class strength of many marine fish. Predation of eggs and larvae is normally considered to be a major factor but the full suite of predators responsible has rarely been identified. Potential predators on a patch of plaice Pleuronectes platessa eggs located in the eastern Irish Sea were mapped using acoustics and sampled by trawl and a plankton multi-net. Gut contents of 3373 fish, crustacea and cephalopods sampled in the area were screened using a plaice-specific TaqMan DNA probe. Herring Clupea harengus and sprat Sprattus sprattus dominated trawl catches and showed high positive TaqMan responses (77 and 75% of individuals tested respectively). Locations of clupeid schools also broadly corresponded with the distribution of fish eggs in the plankton. Whiting Merlangius merlangus were also reasonably abundant in trawl hauls and 86% of their stomachs tested positive for plaice DNA. Species showing lower levels of positive TaqMan response included mackerel Scomber scombrus, poor cod Trisopterus minutus, squid Loligo spp., dogfish Scyliorhinus canicula and weever Trachinus vipera. Non-reactivity of all negative controls precluded the occurrence of cross-contamination, and positive reactions from demersal species, such as dogfish and weever, may have resulted from secondary predation. No benthic macro-crustaceans tested positive. Samples of planktonic organisms yielded 13% positive TaqMan reactions, mainly from clupeoid or sandeel (Ammodytidae) larvae, but also included some Malacostraca and Amphipoda. Use of the molecular approach allowed rapid screening of a large number of potential predators of plaice eggs, and the results provide a more holistic description of the predator community than has previously been achieved.

A "scorpion fish" (Trachinus vipera) sting: fishermen's hazard.

"Scorpion fish" is a nickname given by fishermen to members of the Trachinidae family as a result of their unusual stinging mechanism. These fish are found throughout the eastern Atlantic region from the North Sea through the Mediterranean and Black Seas and along the western coast of Northern and Central Africa. They are characterised by poisonous glands located at the base and sides of the spines of their anterior back fin and at the base of a spine located on the gill cover. Because of the unusual location of the glands, fishermen handling these fish frequently suffer local injuries. A case of necrosis of the tip of the middle finger after a "scorpion fish" sting is described.

The ichthyoneuston of Galway Bay (Ireland)

The ichthyofauna of the neustal (0 to 10 cm) and immediate subsurface water (12 to 48 cm) of Galway Bay was sampled during the day from June 1983 to September 1984 and at night from May to September 1984. Species diversity (H) and the number of species per sample were significantly higher at night. The density of larvae at night was higher only during May. Thirty-nine of the more common species were grouped by factor analysis resulting in 13 species groups with distinct spatial and temporal distributions. Three main time periods, February to April, May to July and July to September and three spatially defined station categories, each of which had distinct species groups, were also isolated by factor analysis. Station categories were contiguous and hydrographically and topographically distinct. Eight species groups showed evidence of vertical migration. Five groups were most abundant from July to September compared with three during May to June and one to two at other times. Eighty-one species or other taxomonic entity (genus or family) were recorded. The majority were pseudoneustonic and represented by early larvae and post-larvae. Euneustonic species (Ciliata mustela, Ciliata septentrionalis, Crenimugil labrosus, Gaidropsaurus mediterraneus, Gasterosteus aculeatus, Liza sp., Rhinonemus cimbrius, Scophthalmus maximus) were all present as late post-larvae or juveniles and all except Ciliata spp occurred during autumn. Facultatively neustonic species (Ammodytes marinus, Belone belone, Ctenolabrus rupestris, Entelurus aequoreus, Nerophis lumbriciformis, Sprattus sprattus, Trachinus vipera) were, except for Belone belone and Ctenolabrus rupestris, all represented by juveniles. All except Ammodytes marinus and Sprattus sprattus were common only in autumn.

An attempt to estimate the predatory pressure exerted by the lesser weever, Trachinus vipera Cuvier, in the southern North Sea

In order to evaluate the impact of the lesser weever on the ecosystem of the southern North Sea, geographical distribution, density, growth, production and food requirements have been estimated. High densities were found on and around the Brown Ridge, an area with high tidal current velocities, medium grain‐size of the sediment and a poor benthic fauna. Growth is restricted to the months of June October. During the winter cessation of growth a considerable loss of weight (about 20%) takes place. Mortality has been estimated by using the average size frequency distribution of all catches made from 1972 to 1984. The resulting convex type of survival curve indicates a high survival rate of the II to IV‐group fishes. The production (estimated with Allen's graphical method) of a population of 100 individuals including all age groups (0‐VI) amounts to 123.7 g AFDW‐year‘. In areas with highest densities, consequently, production amounts to 0.018–0.078 g AFDW‐m2 ‐year‐1. With an assumed transfer efficiency of 10% through the year, food requirements amounts to 0.18–0.78 g AFDW‐m 2 ‐year ‐1. Since the lesser weever feeds mainly on fish (85.6%), almost exclusively on gobies (Pomatoschistus sp.), and with an assumed transfer efficiency of approximately 10%, the indirect predatory pressure exerted by it may amount to 1.6 6.7g AFDW‐m 2.year ‐1. A possible feeding by gobies on pelagic organisms (calanoids, mysids) is discussed.

Origin and function of supporting cells in the venom glands of the lesser weeverfish ( Trachinus vipera)

Supporting cells in the venom glands of Trachinus vipera form a network whose meshes are filled with developed glandular cells. These supporting cells are derived from epidermal cells. A connective tissue sheath forms inside the gland, separating it into pockets. A basal lamina surrounding the pockets between the connective tissue and supporting cells can be observed similar to that between connective tissue and epidermis. The pockets are probably formed by epidermal invagination. In view of the ultrastructural observations, the supporting cells not only maintain the cohesiveness of the venom gland, as demonstrated by the presence of numerous interdigitations and desmosomes, but may also play a role in the regeneration of large glandular cells.

Purification of a lethal fraction from the venom of the weever fish, Trachinus vipera C.V.

C. Perriere, F. Goudey-Perriere and F. Petek. Purification of a lethal fraction from the venom of the weever fish, Trachinus vipera C.V. Toxicon 26, 1222–1227, 1988.—We report the purification of a lethal fraction of Weever fish venom using preparative electrophoresis. It was found to be composed of four identical subunits with an overall mol.wt of approximately 324,000. A 20 g mouse was killed instantly by an i.v. injection of 2 μg.

Preliminary Account of the Development of the Lesser Weever-Fish, Trachinus vipera.

Summary. The egg of Trachinus is about 1.32 millim. in diameter, and contains from 20 to 30 small oil-globules, thus differing from the majority of floating fish eggs hitherto described. In the unfertilized egg a vitelline membrane is easily distinguishable, but afterwards this comes in close contact with the zona radiata, and often requires the action of reagents to show it properly. My observations appear to confirm those of Henneguy, that the invagination observed in optic section in the living egg is an inward folding of the lower layer cells of the epiblast, and that afterwards the alimentary tract is built up from this layer, together with material derived from the intermediary layer. This point cannot, however, be settled definitely without a careful examination of sections of this stage. My observations confirm those of Ryder as to the nature and persistence of the segmentation-cavity, and in this respect pelagic teleostean eggs seem to differ from all others hitherto described. Although the heart appears early on the fourth day, its venous end remains closely applied to the vitellus up to several days after hatching, and I have not been able to find any vascular system either in the embryo or in the vitellus up to 14 or 15 days after development begins, that is 4 or 5 days after hatching. In this respect the observations of Ryder and Kingsley and Conn agree with my own, although in non-pelagic teleostean eggs an elaborate circulatory system is developed both in the vitellus and in the embryo a considerable time before hatching. I have nothing new to record in the later stages of development. The liver and the pancreas arise as little pouches budded off from the mesenteron; the proctodeum arises late, but is well formed at the time of hatching. The stomodeum does not appear to develop until the embryo has left the shell. The young fish usually hatch out on the tenth or eleventh day after impregnation, the early ones with little pigment on the eyes and body, the later ones with the pigment much more developed.

XX.—On the Stinging properly of the Lesser Weever-fish (Trachinus Vipera.)

(1840). XX.—On the Stinging properly of the Lesser Weever-fish (Trachinus Vipera.) Annals and Magazine of Natural History: Vol. 6, No. 36, pp. 161-165.