• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.269-275
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• 2007

The toxicity of two species of puffer fish, Takifugu pardalis and T. niphobles, collected from the coastal regions of Korea was determined using a mouse bioassay. In T. pardalis collected at Tongyeong, the proportion of toxic specimens containing ${\geq}10MU/g$ exceeded 90% for the skin, fins, liver, intestine, ovary, and gallbladder, 11.1% for the testis, and 6.9% for the muscle. In each of the organs, the highest toxin levels were several tens (14-39) of mouse units (MU) per gram in the muscle, testis, and eyeball, but thousands (1,444-5,755) of MU per gram in the skin, liver, intestine, ovary, and gallbladder. The organs of T. pardalis exhibited remarkable variation in toxicity. In T. niphobles, the proportion of toxic specimens exceeded 90% for the ovary and skin, 60-80% for the fins, liver, intestine, and gallbladder, and 4.5% for the muscle; no toxicity was detected in the testis or eyeball using the mouse bioassay. The highest toxin levels were thousands (2,291-7,777) of MU per gram in the liver, intestine, ovary, and gallbladder, hundreds(146-328) of MU per gram in the skin and fins, and 18 MU/g in the muscle. Takifugu niphobles toxicity also exhibited remarkable regional variation. The toxicity in the edible muscle of T. pardalis and T. niphobles was at acceptable levels for human consumption, while the toxicity of the skin of both species of puffer fish was very high, so that care must be taken when used for human consumption.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.309-314
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• 2008

The toxicity of five species of puffer fish, Arothron firmamentum (Byeolbok), Lagocephalus gloveri (Heukmilbok), L. wheeleri (Eunmilbok), L. inermis (Minmilbok) and L. lunaris (Milbok), collected from fish markets in Korea, was determined using a mouse bioassay. In A. firmamentum, the proportion of toxic specimens containing >10 MU/g was 87.5% in the ovaries, and 10.0% in the skin; no toxicity was detected in the muscle, fin, liver, intestine and gallbladder using the mouse bioassay. The highest toxin levels were found to be 87 MU/g in the ovaries, and 13 MU/g in the skin. Toxic specimens containing >10 MU/g were not detected from samples taken from any of the organs in L. wheeleri and L. inermis. In L. gloveri, most specimens were found to be non-toxic, but toxin levels of 11-72 MU/g were detected from within the skin, fins, and intestines in one specimen. In L. lunaris, the proportion of toxic specimens was 50.0% in the ovaries, and 7.1% in the gallbladder; no toxicity was detected in the other organs by the mouse bioassay. The highest toxin levels were 75 MU/g in the ovaries, and 14 MU/g in the gallbladder. Therefore, the toxicities of edible muscle and skin in the five species of puffer fish marketed in Korea were found to be within acceptable levels for human consumption.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.276-281
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• 2007

The toxicity of two species of puffer fish, Takifugu xanthopterus and T. stictonotus, collected from coastal regions of Korea, was determined using a mouse bioassay. The highest toxin scores in the muscle, skin, fins, and testis in both species were below 50 mouse units (MU) per gram, and for each organ of both species the proportion of toxic specimens containing ${\geq}10MU/g$ was less than about 10%. In T. xanthopterus, the highest toxin levels in the liver, gallbladder, and ovary exceeded 1,000 MU/g (1,275-1,910), while less than 200 MU/g (12-136) was detected in the same organs of T. stictonotus. Therefore, the toxicities of muscle, skin, and testis in both species of puffer fish were within acceptable levels for human consumption.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.141-151
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• 2004

We exposed juvenile puffer fish, Takifugu obscurus(30 days after hatching) to various aqueous pollutants including 4 kinds of inorganic metals (Ag, Cd, Cu and Hg), 2 organotin compound.; (tributyltin ［TBT］ and triphenyltin［TPhT］) and 5 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) compounds (chrysene, fluoranthene, naphthalene, phenanthrene and pyrene) to estimate median lethal concentrations (LC50s) of each pollutant after the 96-hour acute exposure. Among the inorganic metals, Hg (52 $\mu\textrm{g}$/L; 96-h LC50) was most toxic to test animals and followed by Ag (164 $\mu\textrm{g}$/L), Cu (440 $\mu\textrm{g}$/L) and Cd (1180 $\mu\textrm{g}$/L). Aqueous TBT was more toxic between the two organotins; the 96-h LC50 for TBT (5.1 $\mu\textrm{g}$/L) was 3 times lower than that of TPhT (17.3 $\mu\textrm{g}$/L). The acute toxicity of PAH compounds was highest for chrysene (1.5 $\mu\textrm{g}$/L; 96-h LC50) and decreased in the order of pyrene (65 $\mu\textrm{g}$/L) > fluoranthene (158 $\mu\textrm{g}$/L) > phenanthrene (432 $\mu\textrm{g}$/L) > naphthalene (8690 $\mu\textrm{g}$/L). The toxicity of PAH compounds wat closely related to their physico-chemical characteristics such as $K_{ow}$ and water solubility, and well explained by simple QSAR relationship. The sensitivity of puffer fish to various inorganic and organic pollutants was generally comparable to various fish species widely used as standard test species in previous studies and further evaluation should be conducted to develop adequate testing procedure for T. obscurus when used in various toxicity tests.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.46-50
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• 2000

Totally, twenty seven specimens of tiger puffer, Fugu rubripes rubripes were collected at Jagalchi fish market in Pusan, Korea during January, April and September in 1995. Anatomical distribution of pufferfish toxin in tiger puffer was examined by mouse bioassay. The frequency rate of toxic specimens containing $\geq$ 10 MU/g was 14.8％ in liver; 16.7％ in gonad; and 14.8％ in skin, and no toxin was detected in muscle. The highest toxin level found was 160 MU/g in liver, 600 MU/g in gonad and 26 MU/g in skin, and each average toxin level (mean$\pm$ standard error) was 7$\pm$6, 50$\pm$35 and 5$\pm$1 MU/g, respectively. Some specimens collected in January and April were toxic, while none of the specimens collected in September showed its toxicity. Although toxicity of tiger puffer showed the seasonal variation, tested tiger puffer was evaluated as a safe seafood fur consumption, in that an acceptable level of toxin was found in the edible muscle and skin.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2009

The toxicity of two species of puffer fish, Takifugu poecilonotus (Heuinjeombok) and T. vermicularis (Gukmaeribok) collected from the coastal regions of Korea was determined using a mouse bioassay. In the T. poecilonotus collected in Jeju and Tongyeong, the proportion of toxic specimens containing ${\ge}10$ mouse units (MU) per gram exceeded 95% for the skin, liver, ovary, and fin, and approximately 30% for the testis and muscles. In each of the organs, the highest toxin levels were 79 MU/g in the muscle, hundreds (158-365) of MU per gram in the fin, intestine, testis, and gallbladder, but thousands (1,147-2,406) of MU per gram in the skin, liver, and ovary. In T. vermicularis collected from Incheon and Gunsan, the proportions of toxic specimens were 100% for the gallbladder, and 56-68% for the skin, fin, liver, and intestine however, no toxic muscle specimens were noted. The highest toxin scores were below 10 mouse units (MU) per gram in the muscle, 20-94 MU/g in the skin and fin, 319 MU/g in the intestine, and thousands (1,548-4,624) of MU per gram in the liver, gonad, and gallbladder. The toxicity in the muscle of T. vermicularis was deemed acceptable for human consumption, whereas the toxicities in the muscle of T. poecilonotus and the skin of both species of puffer fish were significantly high, such that special attention may be required when the fish is intended for human consumption.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.175-178
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• 2004

We here report that the muscle of 'gukmeri-bok' puffer fish (Takifugu vermicularis radiatus) is intoxicated after freezing and thawing processes even though it is not toxic when it is fresh. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of different freezing and thawing conditions as well as the effect of the presence of skin or viscera on the intoxication of muscle of 'gukmeri-bok' puffer during freezing and thawing process. As a result of this investigation, thawing condition, but not freezing conditions or periods played an important role in muscle intoxication. Tetrodotoxin secretory grands exist in the skin of toxic puffer fish, the skin was more responsible for the muscles intoxication than the viscera during the freezing-thawing process. In other words, no toxicity was measured in the muscle of skinned-frozen specimens even when thawed. According to this result, it is recommended that the skin and viscera must be removed before being frozen for edible purpose. Otherwise, when a whole fish should be frozen, alternative half-thawing and removal of skin from frozen specimens is recommended.

• Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.447-453
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• 2006

Toxicity of two species of puffer fish, Takifugu porphyreus and Takifugu rubripes, collected from coastal regions of Korea, was determined using a mouse bioassay, In T. porphyreus, the proportion of toxic specimens containing ${\ge}$ 10 MU/g was 58.3% for the ovary, 32.6% for the skin, 12.0% for the gallbladder, 11.6% for the liver and intestine, and 9.3% for the fin; no toxicity was detected in the muscle and testis using the mouse bioassay. The highest toxin levels were 531 MU/g in the liver, 253 MU/g in the intestine, 136 MU/g in the gallbladder, 118 MU/g in the skin, 116 MU/g in the ovary, and 108 MU/g in the fin. The skin, which is used for human consumption, showed significantly high toxicity with an average of $11{\pm}3\;(mean{\pm}SE) MU/g$. Takifugu porphyreus toxicity also exhibited remarkable regional variation. In T. rubripes, the proportion of toxic specimens was 25.0% for the ovary, 15.8% for the liver, 11.1% for the gallbladder, and 5.3% for the fin and intestine; no toxicity was detected in the muscle, skin, or testis. Among the organs, the highest toxin levels were 228 MU/g in the ovary, followed by 112 MU/g in the liver, 28 MU/g in the gallbladder, 18 MU/g in the intestine, 11 MU/g in the fin, and 8 MU/g in the skin. Thus, we found acceptable toxin levels in the edible muscle and skin of T. rubripes and in the muscle of T. porphyreus. However, the skin of T. porphyreus, which showed significantly high toxicity, requires special attention when used for human consumption.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.360-369
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• 2021

Paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs) and tetrodotoxin (TTX) are neurotoxins that display pharmacological activity that is similar to that of specific sodium channel blockers; they are the principle toxins involved in shellfish and puffer fish poisoning. In Korea, puffer fish is a very popular seafood, and several cases of accidental poisoning by TTX have been reported. Therefore, it is necessary to determine whether puffer fish poisoning incidents are caused by PSTs or by TTX. In this study, we used mouse bioassay (MBA) and liquid chromatograph-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to determine the presence of PSTs and TTX in puffer fish from an area near Mireuk-do, Tong-Yeong on the southern coast of Korea from January through March, 2014. The toxicity of PSTs and TTX extracts prepared from three organs of each specimen was analyzed by MBA. Most of the extracts killed mice with typical signs of TTX and PSTs. The LC-MS/MS analysis of seven specimens of Takifugu pardalis and Takifugu niphobles, each divided into muscles, intestines, and liver, were examined for TTX. In T. pardalis, the TTX levels were within the range of 1.3-1.6 ㎍/g in the muscles, 18.8-49.8 ㎍/g in the intestines, and 23.3-96.8 ㎍/g in the liver. In T. niphobles, the TTX levels were within the range of 2.0-4.5 ㎍/g in the muscles, 23.9-71.5 ㎍/g in the intestines, and 28.1-114.8 ㎍/g in the liver. Additionally, the toxicity profile of the detected PSTs revealed that dcGTX3 was the major component in T. pardalis and T. niphobles. When PSTs were calculated as saxitoxin equivalents the levels were all less than 0.5 ㎍/g, which is below the permitted maximum standard of 0.8 ㎍/g. These findings indicate that the toxicity of T. pardalis and T. niphobles from the southern coast of Korea is due mainly to TTX and that PSTs do not exert an effect.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.32 no.7
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• pp.986-990
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• 2003

The living Glass puffers, Takifugu niphobles (Bogseom as Korean name), 10 specimens, were purchased at Tongyeong traditional fisheries market every month from November, 2001 to October, 2002, and tested anatomical distribution of the toxicity such as muscle, skin, intestine, liver and ovary by mouse bioassay method. Significant seasonal variations of the toxicity were not shown in muscle, skin, intestine and liver except having lower toxicity in spawning season (May and June) than non-spawning seasons. 92 specimens (76.7%) out of 120 ones were non toxic (below 10 MU/g) for the edible and 28 ones (23.3%) were weakly toxic (10 MU/g∼l00 MU/g) for the non-edible in muscle ranged between 0 MU/g and 46.4 MU/g. All of those toxicity were shown over 10 MU/g in skin for the non-edible in skin ranged from 10.0 MU/g to 674.4 MU/g. Toxicity range in intestine and liver was varied between non-toxic and strongly toxic (over 1,000 MU/g) for individual specimens. Toxicity range of the ovary found only in May (7 specimens) and June (1 specimens) was 84.2 MU/g to 2,191.3 MU/g.