Some species of pufferfish are considered vulnerable due to pollution, habitat loss, and overfishing, but most populations are considered stable. Poisonous puffers are believed to synthesize their deadly toxin from the bacteria in the animals they eat. Japanese government figures state that, since 2000, 23 people have died as a result of eating incorrectly prepared fugu, though the majority of these were due to attempts to prepare the fish at home.
Large specimens will even crack open and eat clams, mussels, and shellfish with their hard beaks. The diet of the pufferfish includes mostly invertebrates and algae. Pufferfish Poisoning Facts The poison found in pufferfish, blowfish, balloon fish, toads, sunfish, porcupine fish, toadfish, globefish, and swellfish is a. All have four teeth that are fused together into a beak-like form. They are scaleless fish and usually have rough to spiky skin. They range in size from the 1-inch-long dwarf or pygmy puffer to the freshwater giant puffer, which can grow to more than 2 feet in length. Some wear wild markings and colors to advertise their toxicity, while others have more muted or cryptic coloring to blend in with their environment. These fish are actually poisonous, and they can. They have long, tapered bodies with bulbous heads. Fugu, or puffer fish, are luxury fish that are used as ingredients in food eaten all year round in Japan. Most are found in tropical and subtropical ocean waters, but some species live in brackish and even fresh water. There are more than 120 species of pufferfish worldwide. In fact, many such deaths occur annually. You may want to try this unique and at the same time risky dish while in Japan but remember to eat it. Called fugu in Japan, it is extremely expensive and only prepared by trained, licensed chefs who know that one bad cut means almost certain death for a customer. The fugu poisonous fish is Japans national delicacy. As FoodĪmazingly, the meat of some pufferfish is considered a delicacy. There is enough toxin in one pufferfish to kill 30 adult humans, and there is no known antidote. To humans, tetrodotoxin is deadly, up to 1,200 times more poisonous than cyanide.
Almost all pufferfish contain tetrodotoxin, a substance that makes them foul tasting and often lethal to fish. ToxicityĪ predator that manages to snag a puffer before it inflates won’t feel lucky for long.
Some species also have spines on their skin to make them even less palatable. In lieu of escape, pufferfish use their highly elastic stomachs and the ability to quickly ingest huge amounts of water (and even air when necessary) to turn themselves into a virtually inedible ball several times their normal size. Biologists think pufferfish, also known as blowfish, developed their famous “inflatability” because their slow, somewhat clumsy swimming style makes them vulnerable to predators.