Barbel

[weirwulf]

There must be some truth in it as they have got me addicted and I have only handled them

[arbocop]

Why would either the fish or eggs be toxic?, they're only English freshwater fish and don't develop any poisoness traits to ward off predators, in fact no English freshwater fish does. The only thing in their eggs is amino acids which are the basic building blocks to cell cultivation so they're no different to anything else.

 

if you can eat eels without any side effects then any thing else would present no problems as its been reported that eels hold the most toxins (mercury and cadmium) in their flesh than any other species due to how and where they live in the river systems and how they scource their food in and among the river detritus

 

 

Thats what I thought - very few fish are directly toxic, you may get secondary poisoning from heavy metals etc, but that's not the same. There is the blenny which can sting, but that's venomous rather than posionous (and a marine fish).

 

I think we've established that barbel flesh is not toxic, but we've yet to determine the answer to the roe question. If eaten by otters it doesn't necessarily mean that it will not be toxic to humans. There is the reference to them causing vomiting on Wikipedia, and although Wikipedia is not always correct, it does tend to be reliable with basic scientific facts.

 

Perhaps Elton is right - perhaps it's the can of luncheon meat to the back of the head that kills you.

[Vagabond]

There is the blenny which can sting, but that's venomous rather than posionous

 

Cobblers! Lay off the innocent Blennies !

 

All British Blennies are harmless to handle.

 

There are only four fish likely to be caught in UK waters that have venomous spines

 

Greater Weever Trachinus draco

Lesser Weever Echiichthys vipera

Red Scorpionfish Scorpaena scrofa

Sting Ray Dasyatis pastinaca

 

If you go seafishing, learn to recognise them (do a Google search)

 

Various other fish such as Gurnards, Sea Scorpions, Bass, Sea Breams etc have sharp spines, which can cause wounds liable to go septic due to the mixture of fish slime, lugworm juice, bilgewater etc that gets into them - but even then, Blennies are not one of the culprits.

 

Plenty of venomous nasties in tropical waters, but that's another story.

 

As for barbel/barbel roe being poisonous, why doesn't someone try it? (No not me, I don't care whether it is or it isn't)

Edited February 1, 2010 by Vagabond

[Steve Walker]

You're thinking of the weaver rather than the blenny?

 

The only seriously toxic (rather than venomous) fish I can think of is the species of pufferfish used to make fugu - not native to these parts - and interestingly it is the ovaries of that fish where the poison is most concentrated. There is also ciguatera poisoning, where toxins produced by microorganisms enter the foodchain and accumulate in fish flesh.

 

The alleged toxicity of barbel roe is certainly well recorded in the literature, but I can't find any experimental evidence.

 

There is a list in this google book preview of fish with toxic roe or gonads:

 

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Mk-IdNT...xic&f=false

 

There is a paper here I'd like to read, but not enough to pay for it - if anyone has access to this, it might be worth a look:

 

http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pi...022347687802536

 

"fish roe poisoning" seems a known phenomenon.

[yorkio]

There are only four fish likely to be caught in UK waters that have venomous spines

 

Greater Weever Trachinus draco

Lesser Weever Echiichthys vipera

Red Scorpionfish Scorpaena scrofa

Sting Ray Dasyatis pastinaca

I remember my mum buying some Greater Weever from the fish stall at Romford market back in the mid-70s. While it quite clearly didn't kill us, I can't remember her ever buying it again, so I'm guessing it wasn't the greatest eating fish.

[weirwulf]

Going back to the original question of whether or not barbel are toxic they may of course be so but they have been the target of poachers along with chub so you could only assume that they are either not toxic or that folk of a certain nationality know a way to safely cook them. On the other hand I have eaten a chub when I was a kid and they have got to be the most disgusting tasting fish I have ever tried(the perch being the tastiest!) and can see no reason why even a desperate person would want to bother.

[Vagabond]

I remember my mum buying some Greater Weever from the fish stall at Romford market back in the mid-70s. While it quite clearly didn't kill us, I can't remember her ever buying it again, so I'm guessing it wasn't the greatest eating fish.

 

 

Interesting. I assume that the extremely venomous front spiny dorsal fin had been removed before sale

There is no risk in eating weever flesh though. I have never eaten weever (but would if I caught one big enough), but in Tasmania have caught and eaten various species of Scorpion Cod (related to the Red Scorpionfish referred to in my earlier post). Not the best fish ever tasted, but certainly acceptable.

Edited February 1, 2010 by Vagabond

[Steve Walker]

I believe weaver is a traditional ingredient of bouillabaisse.

[yorkio]

Interesting. I assume that the extremely venomous front spiny dorsal fin had been removed before sale

I should imagine so!

[yorkio]

I believe weaver is a traditional ingredient of bouillabaisse.

Along with scorpionfish (rascasse).