[HN Gopher] Hallucinogenic Fish
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Hallucinogenic Fish
Author : ajaviaad
Score : 25 points
Date : 2020-02-12 21:12 UTC (1 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (en.wikipedia.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (en.wikipedia.org)
| eindiran wrote:
| There was an episode of Hamilton's Pharmaopoeia about
| hallucinogenic fish that was quite interesting. I can't find the
| whole episode on YouTube, but here is a clip from it:
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N3j5g066CU
| EamonnMR wrote:
| I watched it. He only got confused, pained looks from people he
| asked about the fish and did not achieve any sort of mind
| alteration.
| ConsiderCrying wrote:
| > Ingesting the dreamfish Sarpa salpa can result in
| hallucinations that last for several days.
|
| I wonder why this fish hasn't been 'mined' for its hallucinogenic
| properties yet. Surely some of the more adventurous drug users
| would jump at a chance to try something this powerful? The
| article on the fish itself seems to state that it was available
| in restaurants, so it's not exactly a rare find, I assume.
| eindiran wrote:
| Almost all hallucinogenic drugs lasting for more than 18 hours
| are considered bad drugs. Eg the DOx series psychedelic
| amphetamines (excluding DOM, which people like for some
| reason), most of the benzofurans, the alkaloids of the Datura
| plant, etc. Even non-hallucinogenic drugs with long half-lives
| are considered not ideal (see the long lasting benzodiazepines
| especially).
|
| [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOx
|
| [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substituted_benzofuran
|
| [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datura
| JTechno wrote:
| This fish is eaten in some places in spain, I've tried it myself
| but never had hallucinations.
| slim wrote:
| This fish is quite common on the markets in Tunisia. We actually
| avoid it in the hallucination season because it mostly causes bad
| trips. It tastes good.
| aldoushuxley001 wrote:
| What is a good trip on it like?
| andrewflnr wrote:
| It's really surprising to me that psychoactive chemicals are so
| common in the natural world. Why do so many chemicals designed
| for pretty unrelated roles have effects on human brains? I would
| naively expect that to happen approximately never.
| akiselev wrote:
| It's a combination of factors but it's mostly evolution
| converging on very similar systems across the plant and animal
| kingdom. Most neurotransmitters are relatively simple molecules
| while the ion channels on neurons are relatively complex. They
| have a high surface are for all those neurotransmitter,
| inhibitor, regulator, etc. molecules to bind to and the entire
| system is extremely sensitive to small changes.
|
| Take cannabis, for example: the endocannabinoid system in our
| central and peripheral nervous systems effects a variety of
| things (memory, sleep, appetite, etc.) but it's also useful to
| plants, which evolved the system roughly 500 million years ago,
| independently of animals.
| jborichevskiy wrote:
| I found this sentence entertaining:
|
| > Hallucinogenic fish can be contrasted with psychedelic fish.
| Psychedelic fish do not produce hallucinations if eaten, but look
| as if they were the product of a psychedelic hallucination.
| bllguo wrote:
| > The active agent(s) that cause hallucinations in humans, and
| the origin of these agents, are not clear. Some authors think
| they could come from toxins associated with macroalgae that
| accumulate in the flesh of the fish.
|
| does anyone know why we can't tell what substances cause the
| hallucinogenic effects? to a complete layman (i.e. me) this seems
| like the kind of thing modern science should be able to determine
| teslaberry wrote:
| reminds me of fugu but doesnt kill. you presumably.
| beepboopbeep wrote:
| See also: Sea sponges https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5-Bromo-DMT
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