Fish of the Trachinus genus of the Trachinidae (weevers or weeverfish) family of the Trachiniformes order of the Percomorpha clade of the Acanthopterygii superorder.
(Greater weever. Photo by © Hans Hillewaert. flickr.com/photos/bathyporeia)
Greater weever (Trachinus draco) was first described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778).
It inhabits the depth of 1-150 meters, usually 1-30 meters. It dwells near a sandy, silty and pebble bottom. The maximum recorded length is 53 cm, specimens up to 25 cm long are more common. The maximum weight is 1.9 kilograms. It feeds on invertebrates and fish.
(Greater weever. Photo by © Roberto Pillon. fishbase.org)
It is a permanent inhabitant of the Adriatic Sea.
There are venom glands in the first dorsal fin and gill covers. When one pricks at the spines of the fin or gill covers, the venom, which acts both as a neurotoxin and as a haemotoxin, gets into the blood, causes swelling in the area of the prick, and can cause tissue necrosis as well. Afterward, symptoms of general intoxication, including headache, chest pains, irregular breathing, may occur. Limb paralysis and loss of speech may occur as well. The spines of the fin and gill covers of dead fish are as dangerous as those of live fish. Extremely careful handling is required!
The venom of weevers is thermolabile; heat treatment makes it disintegrate.
Names of greater weever (Trachinus draco) in other languages as follows:
Dreqi merimangë i detit (Albanian), Морски дракон (Morski drakon) (Bulgarian), Grote pieterman (Dutch), Μεγαλοδράκαινα (Megalodrakena) (Greek), Escorpión (Spanish), Tracina drago (Italian), Gewöhnliches Petermännchen (German), Ostrosz (Polish), Peixe-aranha-maior (Portuguese), Dragon de mare (Romanian), Большой морской дракон (Boljshoj morskoj drakon) (Russian), Pauk bijeli, Pauk bijelac (Serbian, Croatian), Morski pajek, Morski zmaj (Slovenian), Trakonya balığı (Turkish), Grande vive (French).