Occurrence of TTX in a Brackish Water Puffer “Midorifugu”, Tetraodon nigroviridis, Collected from Thailand

Abstract

Screening tests were carried out on the toxicity of a brackish water puffer, Tetraodon nigroviridis, collected from Thailand through November, 1996 to May, 1998. Among the different tissues, the skin showed the highest toxicity scores, ranging from 49.2-286MU/g, followed by muscle (5.4-11MU/g), while liver and intestine mostly gave scores under 5MU/g. The toxin was partially purified by three kinds of column chromatography consisting of activated charcoal, Bio-Gel P-2 and Bio-Rex 70. Analyses by HPLC, TLC, electrophoresis, 1H-NMR and LC/MS identified the purified toxin as tetrodotoxin.