Evaluation of bioassay for toxicity of ciguateric fish and associated toxins

Abstract

Evaluation of the mouse toxicity assay symptom of hind leg paralysis (HLP) with mouse death by statistical analysis is presented in this study. The fishes assessed were herbivores including Ctenochaetus strigosus (kole), Ctenochaetus hawaiiensis, Acanthurus sandvicensis (manini), and Mugil cephalus (mullet); and the carnivores, Cephalopholis argus (roi) and Cheilinus rhodochrous (po'ou). The latter can also be considered an omnivore. The extracts of both herbivore and carnivore species appeared to be most toxic when HLP occurred in the mice. Ninety-three percent of the mice with HLP died, whereas when no HLP (NHLP) occurred, only 51% of the mice died. Carnivore flesh extracts (po'ou and roi) were least toxic with one death out of a total 22 mice. The unidentified toxin associated with HLP appears to differ in biological properties from that of ciguatoxin(s) in that it was not found in the flesh tissues of carnivores. Further chemical studies of this toxin(s) is being addressed presently.

Documented case of ciguatera on the Mexican Pacific Coast

“…Some animals presented tremors and convulsions before death. Most of the ~~ ~ -mice were cyanotic at the time of death, and some of the males showed intense inflammation of the scrotum that lasted even after death; symptoms agreed with those reported elsewhere [Lewis et al, 1991;Hokama et al, 1994;Vernoux, 19931. Twenty of the 30 injected mice died in the first 3 hours, 3 died in the following 24 hours, and 7 survived (Table 11).…”