In Cambodia, fatal food poisonings associated with the consumption of pu#erfish have occurred for decades, but the causative species or toxins have never been documented. Herein, we investigated the toxicity of three pu#erfish species of the genus Lagocephalus collected from the coastal waters of Sihanouk Ville, one of the main regions where poisonings have occurred. L. wheeleri and L. spadiceus were non-toxic, whereas L. lunaris was toxic and all of its body tissues exhibited toxicity levels exceeding the safety limit for human consumption (10 mouse units/g). Tetrodotoxin (TTX) was identified as the main toxin in this species; no paralytic shellfish poison(s) were detected. Consequently, we can confirm pu#erfish to be a hazardous reservoir of TTX in Sihanouk Ville. It is likely that L. lunaris is one of the causative species of past pu#erfish poisonings that have occurred in Cambodia.
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