Not many people have had the misfortune, when swimming off one of our sandy beaches, or even paddling along the edge of the tide, to come across a weever fish. Not everyone has even heard of them but, as told here some time ago, a teenager going for a swim felt a sting on his foot as he splashed in the water. It was painful and unexpected. Not long after, his foot started to swell and ultimately, in his own words, became "double its normal size". He was lucky. A doctor was not far away and the boy got a shot of anti-histamine and pain-killers. It was very, very sore. So an article in the current issue of Sherkin Comment, the environmental quarterly from the Marine Station of that name, published by the resourceful Matt Murphy, warning of weever fish in our waters, is timely. The article is by Declan T. Quigley of Derryclare Hatchery, Recess, Connemara, formerly with the ESB as fisheries officer.
The word weever, he tells us, may be derived from an Anglo-Saxon "Wivere", meaning a serpent or viper. Two of the four species of weever fish are found around our coasts - the Lesser Weever and the Greater Weever. It was almost certainly the first-named which was responsible on this occasion. They are ugly creatures: a sort of squashed head, mouth pointing upwards and the eyes on top of the head. The dorsal fin, close to the head, is blackish, and this is what delivers the poison. The gill covers also have venomous spines. The fish lives camouflaged and partly buries in the sand and "can quickly lunge upwards," writes Quigley, "to catch passing prey" - or you could stand on them and get the same treatment. They are, we are told, more active at night and dine on a variety of prey including young flatfish, sand eels, shrimps and other quarry. The Lesser Weever is found all around the Irish coast "but is only common in certain sandy areas between the high tide mark and a depth of 50 metres (e.g. Youghal, Wexford and Roundstone)".
It was in a cove beyond Murvery Wood off the road from Roundstone to Clifden that our man got his sting. Quigley also points out that commercial fishermen, especially shrimp trawlers, are at risk too, while sorting their catch. By the way, no deaths from weever-fish sting have been recorded in Ireland. If you get a sting, the author advises, try to soak the affected area in very hot water as soon as possible and get a doctor without delay. Declan Quigley asks for information, especially from doctors who have treated cases. Phone 087-2349440. Addendum: The Lesser, the one you may meet, is 15 cm long. The Greater is 42 cm.