Some fish you should not eat

Some of the fish you should never eat are mostly the fish without scales because they are dangerous to health. Scales and fins are what scientists usually use as characteristics features to identity and classify various species of fish.

It is worthy to note that among these marine creatures, those that possessed scales and fins are quite appropriate for use as food. Consequently, marine creatures that lack these features as marked as unhealthful.

In the Bible, precisely in the Old Testament, the Law of Moses declared them as impure and science also has confirmed the classification of these sea animals regarding consumption.

For example, shellfish have no fins and scales and the intake of shellfish presents various health issues than the regular fish. As it is they are responsible for fish poisoning related issues.

They are therefore seen as fish you should never eat. You will find detailed information regarding shellfish disease by following the link.

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Fish

All fish possess fins but some do not have scales. As it is, those that lack scales are the least healthful and also the most toxic. There are three (3) zoological classes of fish which include:

1. Agnatha
2. Chondrichthyes
3. Osteichthyes

The first two don’t have true scales, that is, agnatha (they don’t have jaws, example, the lamprey), chondrichthyes (fish having a cartilaginous skeleton, example are rays and sharks.

Osteichthyes are also called teleosts. They are the bony fish. Most of them have scales and are often uses as food. However, there are other ones from an order or family which are covered with smooth skin. For example, eels, swordfish, catfish.

They ones in this family lacking scales are least healthful and pose various threats to overall health. Therefore, they are dangerous to health and so we say they are the fish you should never eat.

Unhealthful fish

According to encyclopedia of foods, there are over 20,000 different species of fish and among them are those that are more or less healthful. Some are the fish you should never eat because they are frankly unhealthy as a result of their toxicity.

There are two characteristics, useful for the recognition of these fish so as to know whether they’re more or less healthful.

The skin appearance and mode or manner of feeding is quite useful in recognizing the most dangerous ones in general.

Skin appearance:  Fish with smooth skin such as eels, lampreys, the ones without true scales such as rays and sharks and also those that are covered with spines such as blowfish are the fish you should never eat because they present health problems.

Manner of feeding: Fish that are known by their manner of feeding such as carnivorous fish are those fish that have the highest mercury concentrations and other toxins. Their primary mode of feeding is made up of other animals.

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List of unhealthful fish you should never eat

Fish without scales are the most unhealthful and below presents the list of these fish.

1. Sharks and Rays
2. Catfish
3. Lampreys
4. Eels
5. Swordfish
6. Blowfish

Sharks and Rays

The flesh of these fish are eaten widely, however, they are of low quality. They are the typical examples of fish classified as chondrichthyes. They are also known as Selachii, or Elasmobranchii.

Sharks both white and blue ones are voracious predators. There are other sharks known as Whale shark which seem to be the largest fish ever. It is said that whales are rather marine mammals and not fish. According to Curious Mind Magazine, shark is quit toxic

As for the white ray and other various species, they are not with true scales but with tooth-like scales. The reason we classified them as fish you should never eat is because the flesh from these fish is toxic due to its high urea content.

Resultant effects of eating these fish lead to malaise and headache.

Catfish

The zoological order catfish belong is known as Siluriformes. They are covered with bony plates and they have smooth skin. The two species of dietary value are:

European Cat fish (Ictalurus punctatus

American Catfish (silurus glanis)

The reason why they are the fish you should never eat is because their meat is of poor quality and quite hard to digest.

Lampreys

Both the sea lamprey and the river lamprey are of Agnatha zoological order. They are the fish that lack jaws.

They have no scales and their skin is smooth. Their manner of feeding is somewhat bizarre.

They feed on other fish by sucking blood from other fish and this makes them accumulate various chemical and bacteriological toxins which become resident in their flesh. When lampreys are consumed, they are likely to cause digestive disorders. Therefore, they are among the fish you should never eat.

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Eels and other similar species

They belong to the zoological order Anguilliformes. They virtually have no scales. Their scales are either tiny or barely seen. This class of fish lack ventral fins and they are also know as apodal. Some of the eels we know are:

1. The eel and the elver (Anguilla Anguilla)
2. The conger eel (Conger conger)
3. The Moray ell (Muraena helena).

Some of the reasons why they are fish you should never eat are:

1. Their blood contains an irritating toxin
2. Their blood causes vomiting
3. Blood diarrhea
4. Their blood also causes paralysis and even death. Traces of the blood are left even after removing it before cooking.

Again, another reason they are fish you should never eat is because persons touching their eyes or mouth with eel blood on their hand or skin seem to suffer from inflammation, itching and pain.

Eels are indigestible because of their fat content that quite elevated and also cholesterol. They are also responsible for the toxic ciguatera syndrome.

Swordfish

Swordfish are known to have smooth skin and they are very large, reaching up to 500 kilos or 1,111 pounds. Like sharks, they are voracious predators that feed on other fish.

Although, they are flavorful but quite unhealthy because they are also responsible for toxic ciguatera syndrome.

Blowfish

Their zoological order is Tetraodontiformes. Their skin have no scales and some of the species of this zoological order are covered with bony plates. Their viscera contain tetraodotoxin, which is the primary toxin found in fish.

One of the reason they are marked as fish you should never eat is because their consumption produces neurological paralysis called tetraodotoxin.

Fish farming where there is crowding and artificial feeding poses various harmful factors that affect fish.

Therefore, constant supervision by technicians is highly recommended in order to guarantee safety.

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