3:24pm UK, Saturday April 07, 2012

 

A young boy in Australia has suffered a rare attack by a type of fish described as a “cross between a tadpole and a shark”.

Tom Horn, five, was bitten while wading with his family on Thursday Island, in the far north of Queensland.

The creature bit both of his feet and he needed to be taken 450 miles to Cairns for surgeons to operate.

The ferocious pufferfish lives in the far north of Australia

The attack was by a feroxodon multistiatus, known as ‘ferocious pufferfish‘, which grow to a length of only 14 inches but have powerful teeth-filled jaws.

“They were unbelievable wounds,” said Tom’s policeman father, Senior Sergeant Jamie Horn. “The ball of his left big toe was missing and a chunk of flesh was missing out of his right heel.

“You wouldn’t think a little pufferfish could be so vicious.”

Tom needed 30 stitches for his wounds. He was kept in hospital for two weeks on antibiotics as a precaution against infection, reported Queensland’s Courier Mail newspaper.

Surgeons now plan to have a report published in a medical journal to document the rare attack.

The newspaper described the fish as “a cross between a tadpole and a Great White Shark”, which can slice off ears, fingers and the toes of swimmers.

Dr Peter Doherty, research director of the Australian Institute of Marine Science, almost lost a finger in an attack.

“They’ve got a great set of jaws with a beak like a parrot-fish for crushing up coral and rock,” Dr Doherty said…

 

For the full article go here:

 

http://news.sky.com/home/strange-news/article/16204401

 

 

Become A Sponsor!
If you have a product or service that is a good fit for our surf community, we have opportunities for you to sponsor this blog! Download our media kit now!