Also known as fish poisoning,
Ichthyoallyeinotoxism comes from the Greek terms
"Ichthy-" (fish) ,
" aluein" (to be out of oneself , to hallucinate ) and
"toxikon" (venom). It is used to denote a rare hallucinogenic intoxication due to the consumption of the head or other body parts of a fish belonging to a group of
Dream Fish , many species which are indigenous to the Indian and Pacific Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. Because of their psychoactive effects, such fish species are refereed to as
psychoactive fauna .
Ichthyoallyeinotoxism is classified as a variant of
ichthyosarcotoxism ,i.e food poisoning caused by the ingestion of fish. The symptoms typically commence within few minutes to 2h after the consumption and they ussually last no longer than 36 hours. Ichthyoallyeinotoxism is characterized by generalized
malaise, and a variety of CNS disturbances coordination, vivid visual and /or auditory hallucinations, nightmares, and sometimes frank delirium.The hallucinations occurring in the context of ichthyoallyeinotoxism are sometimes compared to the those occurring in LSD intoxication.The toxin/-s responsible for the medication of ichthyoallyeinotoxism are unknown. As all ichthyoallyeinotoxism fish appear to be algal grazers , it is believed that they may derived their hallucinogenic properties from alkaloids of the indole group which are chemically quite similar to LSD, and which occur naturally in certain types of algae and phytoplankton. It has also been suggested that ichthyoallyeinotoxism may be mediated by Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) ,a hallucinogenic even more potent than the indoles present in fish.
