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Type
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Marine Fish
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Title
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Striped eel catfish
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Local Name
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Chunkaan
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Common Name
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Striped eel catfish
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Scientific Name
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Plotosus lineatus
Taxonomy
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Kingdom
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Animalia
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Phylum
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Chordata
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Class
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Teleostei
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Order
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Silueriformes
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Family
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Plotosidae
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Genus
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Plotosus
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Species
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Plotosus lineatus
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Short Description
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Plotosus lineatus, commonly known as the striped eel catfish, is a species of eeltail catfishes belonging to the family Plotosidae. Like most other members of the genus Plotosus, they possesses highly venomous spines that they can use to sting when threatened. The venom can cause mild to severe symptoms in humans.
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Habitat
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Marine; brackish; reef-associated; amphidromous
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Location Name
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Paravur
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Morphology Details
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Dorsal spines (total): 1; Dorsal soft rays (total): 69 - 115; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 58 - 82. This species has the dorsal and anal fins continuous with caudal fin; with 4 pairs of mouth barbels; and a single highly venomous serrate spine at the beginning of the first dorsal and each of the pectoral fins (Ref. 1602).
Body shape (shape guide): fusiform / normal; Cross section: circular.
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Distinctive Features
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P. lineatus has venomous spines on their fins that they use to sting for self-defense. Their skin also possess cells that secrete venom. The venom is composed of crinotoxins and plototoxins, which are mainly hemolytic but are also edema-forming, nociceptive, and tetanic. Symptoms of P. lineatus stings range from mild to severe symptoms, they include extreme pain, dizziness, erythema, edema, necrosis, numbness, vomiting, muscle spasms, respiratory distress, shock, and sepsis.
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