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If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. The manifestations abated three days after he had eaten the fish,' de Haro and Pommier report. 'Fearing that these symptoms might signal the beginning of a major mental illness, he did not tell his friends or attending physician. He literally thought he was losing his mind. This poisoning from contaminated fish flesh prompts intense hallucinations and terrifying nightmares that can last for several days.Īs reported by Luc de Haro and Philip Pommier from the Centre Antipoison of the Hôpital Salvator in Marseille, France, in a 2006 issue of Clinical Toxicology, a 90-year-old man ate a Salema porgy in Saint Tropez in 2002 and two hours later was hallucinating and having nightmares about people and birds screaming, which lasted a further two nights. Along with a handful of other fish, the flesh of the Salema porgy can sometimes inflict ichthyosarcotoxism on those who eat it, which is a very rare form of poisoning caused by the toxins of a tiny species of marine plankton called Gambierdiscus toxicus. Apparently they taste great! The Salema porgy, also of the Sparidae family and nicknamed the dreamfish, was reportedly used for recreational hallucinogenic purposes in the Mediterranean during the Roman Empire and has played a role in traditional Polynesian ceremonies. So that’s something.Īnother good thing about this huge creep is that, unlike one of its relatives, the Salema porgy ( Sarpa salpa), you won't risk having a terrible trip when you eat one. While other members of the Sparidae family are trying out various forms of hermaphroditism, including changing from female to male (protogyny), doing the opposite (protandry), or being unisexual (gonochorists), the sheepshead is just sitting at home watching cartoons and leaving its genitals where they are.

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific Americanĭespite the way it looks, the sheepshead fish ( Archosargus probatocephalus) has at least one thing going for it.

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