Have I been poisoned?

July 17, 2007
From: Pete Baker

On June 7th, 2007 I was on the beach south of Athens, Greece. About 4 feet off the beach we found what looked to be a 10 inch long shell-less creature (the head resembled a snail) floating in the water. It's sides resembled wings as they rippled through the water. The creature was black (or at least very dark in color.) I briefly touched one of it's rounded wings (kinda shaped like a small frisbee with the tubular body in the middle.)

That night we boarded a plane for the US. I was feverish on the flights all the way home. By June 13th I was being admitted to the hospital with a BP of 76/50, a fever of 103.4, and severe dehydration. My lymphatic system went haywire and my white blood cell count was over 20,000. The doctors have no clue what I have and on reflection the only thing I can not account for is that sea critter.

Locality: Beach, Southern Athens, 1 meter, Athens, Greece, Aegean Sea, 08 June 2007, just offshore, public beach.. Length: 10 inches

Can someone shed some light on the subject?
Thanks in advance,
PBaker

pbaker2@gmail.com

Baker, P., 2007 (Jul 17) Have I been poisoned?. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20232

Dear Pete,

I'm not sure how urgent your enquiry is but its quite easy to answer. Basically if you have been poisoned I don't think touching sea hares is a likely cause. From your description I suspect the animal you touched was probably the sea hare Aplysia fasciata. Have a look at some of the earlier message attached to that Fact Sheet and you will find photos of swimming animals. I can't give medical advice but I know of no ill effects caused by touching these animals. One species in Western Australia, Aplysia gigantea, can cause problems for dogs which bite or lick washed up animals, but that is noteworthy only because it the only sea hare worldwide which is reported to cause problems just by touch. Now and then people who eat them can become ill, but I don't think you fall into that category. If you go to the General Topics list on the Forum you will find a whole section on Sea Hares if you want to learn more about them. I hope you solve your illness

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman

Rudman, W.B., 2007 (Jul 17). Comment on Have I been poisoned? by Pete Baker. [Message in] Sea Slug Forum. Australian Museum, Sydney. Available from http://www.seaslugforum.net/find/20232

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Aplysia fasciata

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