The "Nipple Fish" Story

It was an ordinary day. We were in the 85 degree water in front of our room in Antigua. Jerry, Just Sue, Carol and I. We had just arrived, put our luggage in our room, put our swim suits on and jumped in the water. We had waited for sooooo long to do this. Started planning the trip a year ago and finally .... we're in the water. Enjoying ourselves immensely when all of a sudden Jerry yells and splashes in the water. "Something just bit me," he says. And then again it happens. "There, it bit me again. Right on my nipple." Now, the water is cloudy because of a few days of rain so you can't see anything in the water, but evidently the fish can see or at least smell us. Then it hit me. Three or four bites on my back and then a strike on my right nipple. Not the kind that draw blood, thank goodness, but the kind that startle you. We found that if you keep moving around, they don't bother you. But, we can't splash our way through vacation, can we? Since we can't identify the culprits, we have dubbed them "nipple fish." For some strange reason they don't bother the girls, but then they have that vital part of their body covered. As we attempt to enjoy the water, others start to enter it. Then we hear a scream from a man 20 feet from us. Wow! He didn't want anything to do with these fish, so out he hustles. We splashed around for half an hour and exit the murky waters. Before we left for vacation I was reading on TravelTalklOnline about aggressive fish at Club O which is the naturist section of Orient beach in St. Martin. They were writing in about the fish ramming into them while they stood in the water. Someone warned the men at the resort not to walk backwards in the water since it would be like trolling for bites. Another said they are "spade fish" which are ghost fish, since they tend to blend in with their surroundings. One fellow did have blood dripping from his private. Seems one of the fish took it for a french baguette. I finally did see the fish that were nibbling on us and they looked like snapper. Had a slight yellow stripe and tinge to them. In a day or two the water started to clear and we were not bothered anymore. Then ...... it rained again! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.