What was this fish?

[Snappy]

At the beach yesterday we found a fish buried in the sand with just its mouth and eyes poking through. My friend thought it might die so scooped it up and went to tak it to the sea but on the way there, it stuck the spines along its back up and pricked her finger! She dropped it and it buried into the wet sand at the waters edge. Did it live in the sand and was really quite annoyed at her doing that? Any ideas what kind of fish it was?

[jules77]

a 'sand lance' fish buries itself in the sand, not sure whether they have a spikey spine though.

[RATTER15]

Could it have been a weaver fish, take a look at this pic http://www.castandcatch.com/images/lweever.gif

[voidy]

sounds like a weaver fish to me

[paddywak]

has your friend had any problems since it stung her as the weaver sting can be quite nastry check the weaver fish page on Wikipedia

[Thunderbird+]

I was once the victim of stepping on a weaver fish while walking along the beach, it was like a red hot needle piercing the sole of my foot.
Fortunately I did'nt react badly to it like some do but boy did that smart!

[Snappy]

Ooh, that does look like it! Those eyes i remember. No, she hasnt had any adverse reaction, apart from a bit of pain when it happened. Thanks all!

[Noweia]

Sounds like a weaver fish - they bury themselves in the sand. I stepped on one once and couldn't walk for an hour :(

[fairkatrina]

Your friend was lucky, it certainly sounds like a weaver fish, a reaction to their sting can be cery serious. In future just leave it alone!

[fairkatrina]

Your friend was lucky, it certainly sounds like a weaver fish, a reaction to their sting can be very serious. In future just leave it alone!

[burnhal]

My missus had the misfortune to step on a weaver fish- intense agony for an hour and really several months before the pain had totally gone. I guess in your friends cast it had little time to inject poisin. For info it is a protein poisin and there is no medicine or drug for it. The only thing that helps is immersing the affected part in water as hot as you can bear it. This helps to break down the poisin

[spudqueen]

burnhal has got it right about the hot water - as hot as you can bear. On holiday with some friends a few years back their daughter stepped on a weaver fish. Fortunately the beach we were on had life guards and they knew exactly what to do.