Holidaymakers on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast encountered a dangerous creature this summer: a 50cm poisonous species named the “killer fish”.
Fisherman in Bodrum report a surge in the number of silver-checked toadfish, a cousin of the dangerous delicacy, the pufferfish. The creature carries a substance 1,250 times more toxic than cyanide in its liver, ovaries and skin. Touching it can cause serious burns and even death.
Residents in Bodrum were told not to touch them and if they see one to scoop it out of the water in a bag and bury it. They can weigh as much as 5kg.