13 marine species you should avoid on the beach

Our country has almost 8,000 km of coastline. This makes incidents involving marine species, and especially in the summer season, the order of the day. In this post (far from creating any kind of alarm and encouraging the enjoyment of our beaches) we want to tell you about the species that can give us a hard time. We encourage you to observe the beauty of these animals that, although “dangerous”, are equally beautiful.

1. Fried egg jellyfish or avocado (Cotylorhiza tuberculata)

It appears in late summer and in autumn. It is common throughout the Mediterranean coast and is one of the largest that can be found there. On the eastern coast of Andalusia it is easy to see during the months of September and October.

It has 8 oral arms with numerous tubular appendages terminated in blue or white buttons, which give it the characteristic for immediate identification. She is always surrounded by horse mackerel fry and the servioles she shelters. The color is brown-orange, due to the symbiotic algae that live in its tissues. It feeds on prey that it captures with its mouthparts and which it digests little by little.

The bite is practically imperceptible.

2. Aguamala, aguamar or Acalefo Azul (Rhizostoma pulmo)

It has a size of up to 60 cm in diameter. In individuals of less than 3 cm, the violet band is not visible and in the center the gonads form a square. Along with the Cotylorhiza tuberculata, this is another one of the largest jellyfish on our coasts.

It constitutes a real plague on the Mediterranean coast, due to rising temperatures and the disappearance of its predators such as sea turtles and sunfish.

Its bite produces an intense itch.

3. Common jellyfish (Aurelia aurita)

This is the most common species on the Mediterranean coasts. It has the typical shape of a transparent bag, up to 15-20 cm in diameter and with reduced stinging power. In the lower part, it has four fairly short oral arms and numerous tentacles that surround its edge. It is found both on the high seas and near the coast, alone or in groups, and it often drifts with plankton, allowing itself to be carried away by the current.

She is sometimes thrown ashore in large numbers, as she is not a particularly powerful swimmer, and lives in surface waters. Slight itching.

4. Luminescent calefo, luminescent jellyfish or carnation (Pelagia noctiluca)

With an Atlantic and Mediterranean distribution, it can form swarms that reach the coastline due to multiple factors, such as the increase in nutrients due to fertilizers many times Discharges by man, the increases in temperature that accelerate the reproduction of these animals, or the decrease of their predators such as sea turtles.

It has filaments up to 6 meters long, whose toxicity can cause serious and painful bites. It usually arrives in large banks that end in massive strandings on the beaches.

The method of its sting occurs when we come into contact with the jellyfish. When brushing it, a small sensory hair in its cells is stimulated and thus a small harponcillo is fired through which it injects the poison into us, receiving hundreds of stingers in turn.

Depending on the area we spray and the species, this harponcile has a different size and different ability to penetrate our skin. Clarify that even when dead, these jellyfish keep their venom active and even transfer it to objects or surfaces they touch.

Very painful. It causes injuries. It takes time to heal.

5. Portuguese caravel (Physalia physalis)

This is the most dangerous jellyfish we can find in Spain, but one of the most striking. Very rare to see off our shores, although some banks have been detected in the Mediterranean Sea.

The scientific community is very concerned about its appearance, since it is a species whose bite is deadly, so that, if it were to settle in the Mediterranean, it would be a serious problem for tourism.

The caravel moves over the surface of the water thanks to a gas-filled bladder that looks like a ship's sail and to which it owes its name. Its bluish balloon shape hides stinging tentacles of up to 30 meters in length that, when in contact with people, can cause burning, swelling and, in the case of allergic individuals, even lead to cardiac arrest. Its bite can also be fatal in children and in elderly or weakened people.

Very painful sting. Skin burn.

6. Scorpion fish, spiderfish or wild fart (Trachinus draco)

It is a fish that lives on beaches and shallow sandy bottoms. It usually gets very close to the coast, especially at night, burying itself in the sand leaving only the eyes uncovered, so due to this camouflage, it is difficult to locate. You have to be careful on days in the west, which is when they are usually found in greater numbers. Sometimes it attacks without provocation, but especially if it is stepped on by accident. It has 3 venomous punches, two on the sides and one behind the head.

The venom causes great pain in the affected area, together with inflammation that spreads throughout the area where the bite is located, and may last for several days. The pain reaches its peak between an hour and an hour and a half after the bite. It can become necrotic and infected, leaving in some cases residual pain.

Very painful sting. It takes time to heal.

7. The miracielo, ratfish or catfish (Uranoscopus scaber)

It has a strong, bulky head, armored by dermal plates and with crests of thorns. It has a strong spine, with a protruding tip, which is poisonous. The color is greyish brown with white spots on the back and sides; the belly is yellowish. It can reach 35 cm.

Species adapted to a sedentary and poorly swimming life. The rat is buried in the sediments, poking out its head and mouth half-open with its tentacle, which acts as a decoy in the same way that rapes do. It is usually found in the Mediterranean, Black Sea and Eastern Atlantic from the Bay of Biscay to Morocco, specifically in sandy or muddy bottoms, 15 to 100 m deep.

Severe pain. The bite can cause local, severe, long-lasting pain, and may become irritated. Absent or mild general symptoms (agitation, nausea, vomiting, lipothymia)

8. Mug (Trisopterus luscus)

It's edible. It belongs to the Gadidae family, that is to say, to the cod. It lives in cold and temperate waters. It lives at medium depths. Juveniles prefer shallow areas in rocky and sandy bottoms, while adults live in deeper waters between 30 and 100 m. It is a gregarious species whose smaller individuals group together to form huge banks. It feeds on small crustaceans, mollusks, polychaetes, squid and other small fish.

Bearable puncture.

9. Common sea urchin (Paracentrotus lividus)

Hedgehogs are usually found in rocky areas, either on the shore or out to sea. They can inoculate poisonous substances, since their secondary spikes end up in sacs that are loaded with toxic substances.

Severe pain. Contact with their spikes causes pain, itching, erythema (a dermatological medical term for reddening of the skin caused by inflammation) and, depending on the species, some other symptomatology. This poison can cause, in addition to severe pain, numbness of the injured limb, certain muscle paralysis or paresthesia. Until the spikes are removed, they continue to release poison, which aggravates the wound.

10. Scorpion, red scorpion or rascacio (Scorpaena scrofa)

Brown and blackish in color with reddish tints and light spots, it can reach a size of approximately 30 cm and weigh 1 kg.

In summer it can be found in a very shallow background. Rocky or grassy bottoms. It lives hidden among the stones and bottoms with vegetation. Lonely and sedentary. Very trusting, making it easy prey for divers. Very popular meat for gastronomy, white and consistent.

It has venomous glands at the base of the hard rays of the dorsal fin. The bite of this fish causes painful wounds with severe pain and swelling at the site of the bite. The swelling may spread to affect the entire arm or leg in a matter of minutes. It can also cause changes in blood pressure, which can be high or low, delirium, diarrhea, fainting...

11. The common whip stripe, chucho or parsnip (Dasyatis pastinaca)

They generally have a bulkier and square-shaped head than the stingray matas. The parsnip is usually between 1.2 and 2.1 m wide and has a poisonous spike in its tail about 20 centimeters long. The chucho is ovoviviparous since the young develop in eggs, although inside the mother, which when broken go outside.

Painful sting. Its venom is not fatal, but it is painful, and causes major injuries or paralysis. The parsnip, or stingray, usually attacks when you are on it in shallow water. It forms groups that can become numerous.

12. Sea tomato (Actinia equina)

Its tentacles are retractable, allowing the animal to pick them up at will, thus presenting a completely closed shape that resembles a tomato in its shape, hence its common name. We found them attached to rocks near the coast, they are very stinging and can be easily stepped on when stepping on rocky terrain in the sea.

13. Sea anemones or actinias (Actiniaria sp.)

They live close to rocks and cover large areas of Mediterranean sea floor. They are stinging. You should not touch them, although their “burn” is usually less important than those of jellyfish. They are characterized by a painful, burning sensation, with erythema, pruritus and urticarial reaction.