The venom discovery process is a cross-discipline field that uses a multitude of highly trained specialists including mass spectrometrists, structural biologists, bioinformaticians, chemists and pharmacologists. Yet seemingly the taxonomic verification of the species from which these venoms are extracted is conspicuously absent from many studies. As a sea anemone taxonomist crossing into venom research I found myself questioning the accuracy of identifications of animals. Wondering who undertook identifications and how? Are we seeing an influx of pseudo-taxonomic experts in the field due to internet accessibility and what does the misidentification of animals mean? I conducted a survey of the venom research community to understand how they integrated animals, taxonomy and taxonomists in their research. I will present my own observations and some of the findings from that survey to discuss the ramifications and effects of a lack of taxonomic rigour within the venom discovery process.