NO POISON DUCT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 282, 29 November 1938, Page 11

NO POISON DUCT.

STINGRAYS TAIL.

DEATH OF GIRL BATHER.

!*>■« OF BLOOD SUGGESTED

aJ-tn y ° Unp WOman " h0 Was «ttacked on Sunday by a atlnjray when bathing in shallow watef the shore in onc of thc h Hauraki Gulf about 12 mi.es from Thames d.ed from the effects of loss " blood, shock and the force of the blow rather than from any poisonous effect from the fish's tail was the general opinion expressed bv medkal Whe " —-ting

Though there was no doubt Miat seriSSilllnH ■ a "s l i " ,lani,,latio " sometimes result up „, deati,, oouW , jp wounds received from the fish, it was the" ?/;•■' r n, i kp J y that !t ™m™ the girl's death in the short period reported. She bad died just after reaching the Thames Hospital oi.lv 1' miies awav «dSrs2 ,orwon,,Ji ' ;,it,,et,,^

It was pointed out that a blow from the creature's tail had the force of a kick from a hor.c and it was possible that the wounds inflicted bv the spiny WH'tloii had cut a blood vessel, resulting in tlie gnl bleeding to death. • The stingray was known to the Maoi is as tin- wjiirepo and was greatly prized as a food. This class of fish is plentiful on many parts of the New Zealand count, but accidents are rare, niainlv i.«-cause the stingray is just as anxious to avoid trouble as are bathers. They are not mud feeders but arc most frequently seen on beaches and banks where cockles and shellfish abound to provide them with food.

Ihe ray family is a wide one. distributed all over the world, and all members have the same family likeness. Jhe long tail carries about half-wav along it a long spine (sometimes serrated, sometimes not), which represents the dorsal fin, and varies in length according to the size of the ray, up to six and eight inches. The spine, which inflicts a painful wound when the fish lashes it fiercely in panic, is covered by a slime that causes intense inflammation. Contrary to the common belief, there is no poison gland.

Stingray a are. frequently hauled ashore in nets about the outer benches mid are extremely common in tlie Marlborough Sounds, where they reach a very large size, up to four and five hundred pounds in weight. As they follow the tide up the sounds beaches they can be approached closelv by boat, looking like bluish-black, "flat rocks under the water. Yet from the shore they are seldom seen, being shy of disturbances and making for deep water if approached. *

If this were not so, accidents would be frequent because stingrays arc numerous. Down in the Marlborough Sounds holiday-makers who are nervous about stingrays throw a f>w heavy stones into the water to frighten the fish away. "The attack on the girl would not be a deliberate attack by the stingray," said Mr. A. W. B. Powell, conchologist at the Auckland War Memorial Museum thin morning. "It would just be panicky and lash out with its tail.' .

He added that he had cutcn the flesh of stingrays himself and could agree with the high opinion held by the Maoris as to its tastiness as a food. It was like hapuka.