Question: How can poisonous fish be distinguished from edible ones?

Diva Amon answered on 27 Jun 2012:

Hi sizzle1999,
This is a great question but unfortunately it doesn’t have a straightforward answer. Unlike for example, poisonous frogs, which are really brightly coloured, there is no easy way to tell with poisonous fish. There are some birghtly-coloured beautiful fish which are poisonous like the lionfish but then there are way more brightly-coloured fish that live on coral reefs that aren’t poisonous. There also really poisonous fish like the stonefish which looks like a stone and is really drab in colour and looks just like a rock. Also sometimes, you need to remember that some poisonous fish ARE edible. The lionfish can give a really nasty sting and hurt you quite badly but as long as the spines are cut off and the fish cooked thoroughly (this neutralises the poison) then they are safe to eat! The moral of the story is, just be careful what you touch and eat!