Notable stings, shocks, bites, and otherwise memorable injuries in the hobby

[Misses.ReefWars]

First experience with long spined sea urchin....not so good...didnt realize how sharp and firm the spines were and got stabbed a few times, my hand was on fire ooouch :s
ps. I blame reefwars for not warning me....lol

[christyf5]

bad run in with some really fugly zoanthids that weren't interested in coming off the rock. squirted me in the eye and got me in every hang nail. My fingers were so swollen I couldn't flex them for 3 days and my eye was just disgusting for awhile too. Gloves and goggles required when working with those little buggers.

[Reef_Geek]

Originally Posted by christyf5

bad run in with some really fugly zoanthids that weren't interested in coming off the rock. squirted me in the eye and got me in every hang nail. My fingers were so swollen I couldn't flex them for 3 days and my eye was just disgusting for awhile too. Gloves and goggles required when working with those little buggers.

That's amazing. A co-worker who is a newbie reefer told me he got squirted in the eye by something like a zoa when trying to frag it. He told me this long list of symptoms he was experiencing... from sinus congestion, poor hearing, the shakes, to (of course) eye issues. I never heard of zoas being this toxic before, but then again, not too many people get it right in the eye. This is the first re-confirming example I've heard since then.

There you go, as they say, wear your PPE always.

[ScubaSteve]

In my tank I've certainly had the all-too-regular run ins with bristle worms and have had my share of anemone stings. Of all the tank-induced injuries, my buddy's maroon goldstripe clown was the worst. That fish was a d-bag in every sense of the word. The damn thing would find the softest part of the fingers and bite on hard enough I could lift it out of the water and hold it there as it dangled from my tender flesh.

Outside of the tank, however, I've had some rough run-ins with wildlife. I've had:

- Lionfish spines (which hurt like **** as noted previously)
- Got tangled in a 4ft wide lions mane jellyfish while freediving. I still have scars from this encounter.
- Countless other jelly stings, typically on the face and typically quite mean.
- Spines from numerous urchins stuck in all appendages
- Countless wounds from crabs (I was helping my friend with his PhD in marine biology and was assisting him in crab counts *Note: Crabs don't like being picked up and measured).
- 2" gash in my hand from wrestling a 3ft tanner crab (which was the best earned crab BBQ I've ever had)
- Nipped fingers from an over-friendly wolf eel
- Sliced fingers from a prawn's rostrum

And the list goes on...