5/17/2023 0 Comments I am fish puffer fish level 2![]() These captive pufferfish then accumulated the toxin themselves. Some of these captive puffer fish were then fed the livers of wild pufferfish that contained tetrodotoxin. All captive specimens had undetectable levels of tetrodotoxin. This was discovered in an experiment by collecting pufferfish raised in captivity and measuring levels of tetrodotoxin in their organs, particularly the liver. Bacteria produce the toxin and are then consumed up the food chain and accumulate in high doses in high trophic level animals. The animals bioaccumulate the toxin from their diets. The reason that many distantly related taxa have evolved the ability to produce tetrodotoxin is that the animals themselves do not produce the toxin. Other invertebrates that contain the toxin include several starfish species, several species of xanthid crabs, species of the phylum Chaetognatha (arrow worms), species of the phylum Nemertea (ribbon worms), some flatworms, and planarians of the genus Bipalium. Mollusks that contain the toxin include several species of the blue-ringed octopus, species of Niotha gastropods, and species of genus Naticidae (moon snails). In marine vertebrates, the toxin is found in more than 20 pufferfish species and certain angelfish. Of terrestrial vertebrates, the toxin is found in Western, rough-skinned newts of the genus Taricha, the Eastern Newt ( Notophthalmus viridescens), and toads of the genus Atelopus. The toxin is found naturally in a wide variety of vertebrates and invertebrates with no close phylogenetic relationship. The toxin blocks sodium channels leading to gastrointestinal, neurological, and cardiac symptoms in poisoned patients. There are 26 known naturally occurring analogs. The toxin is heat-stable, meaning that cooking does not destroy the toxin. It is famously known to cause perioral numbness in consumers of pufferfish sushi, known in Japan as fugu. Tetrodotoxin is a neurotoxin that is most commonly found in marine animals.
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