An elderly Greek woman required stitches after being bitten by a toxic fish with razor-sharp, human-like teeth while swimming off a beach in Varkiza, near Athens. The attack came as a silver-cheeked toadfish lunged at her without provocation, according to local media reports, and has sharpened public concern over an invasion that is now in its tourist high season.
The silver-cheeked toadfish (Lagocephalus sceleratus) is a torpedo-shaped species with prominent, humanlike teeth. Its skin and organs contain tetrodotoxin, a powerful neurotoxin that can cause heart and lung failure if consumed. The fish normally inhabits the Indian Ocean but is believed to have travelled up the Suez Canal and into the Mediterranean, drawn by warming waters – a migration that prompted Cyprus to launch a similar catch programme earlier this year.
“Greece offers €5.33 per kg for toxic silver-cheeked toadfish after a woman was bitten and fishermen report damaged nets.”
In recent weeks, the fish have wreaked havoc for fishermen off the coast of Crete and several other islands, chomping through nets and devouring their catch. “It’s got to the point where we might go out fishing one day and then spend the next three days fixing our nets,” Giorgos Kyriakakis, of a Cretan fishermen’s association, told Greek public broadcaster ERT. “They eat our catch and damage our nets — that’s very costly.”
Starting Friday, Greece’s government is offering €5.33 per kilogram for catches of the fish – the first time such a measure has been taken in the country. Agriculture minister Margaritis Schinas, a former European Commission vice president, said the fish would be frozen and incinerated at local government facilities. He added that the measure would likely be expanded from the currently affected islands to all Greek waters.
The Greek Red Cross has issued a public health warning about the fish, outlining first-aid protocols for bleeding caused by potential bites and warning of the deadly neurotoxin in the fish’s organs. Public concern has been stoked by online videos posted by fishing crews, showing the fish – known locally as lagokefalos – sinking their teeth into soda cans or pieces of wood.
Authorities and businesses on Crete have sought to calm fears. In a statement issued Friday, 16 medical and tourism associations on the island said: “The presence of these fish in the Mediterranean has been known for years. There is, however, no ‘invisible’ or imminent danger to bathers. Marine predators do not threaten the safety of visitors and residents.” They cautioned that “exaggeration is often a feature of public” discourse – a warning that may do little to reassure swimmers as summer crowds arrive.