title: Toxicity of pufferfish Takifugu rubripes cultured in netcages at sea or aquaria on land.
abstract: Marine pufferfish (family Tetraodontidae) are believed to accumulate tetrodotoxin (TTX) mainly in liver and ovary through the food chain by ingesting TTX-bearing organisms such as starfish, gastropods, crustacean, flatworms, ribbonworms, etc. Consequently, it is hypothesized that non-toxic pufferfish can be produced if they are cultured with TTX-free diets in netcages at sea or aquaria on land, where the invasion of TTX-bearing organisms is completely shut off. To confirm this hypothesis, more than 5000 specimens of the pufferfish ("torafugu", Takifugu rubripes) cultured in such manners for 1-3 years were collected from several locations in Japan during 2001-2004, and toxicity of their livers and some other parts was examined according to the Japanese official mouse assay method for TTX. In addition, typical specimens were submitted to LC/MS analysis. The results showed that all the livers and other parts tested were 'non-toxic' in both of the mouse assay (less than 2 MU/g) and LC/MS analysis (less than 0.1 MU/g). Thus, it is undoubtedly confirmed that pufferfish are intoxicated through the food chain, and non-toxic pufferfish can be successfully produced by netcage or land culture. The livers from these fish can be used with safety as a Japanese traditional food "fugu-kimo" (puffer liver).
authors.affiliation: Japan Frozen Foods Inspection Corporation, Shibadaimon 2-4-6, Minato, Tokyo 105-0012, Japan.
authors.forename: Tamao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Noguchi
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Arakawa
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takatani