The Puffer Forum

I read that puffers have a toxin in their intenal organs and get this from the food that they eat. Poison dart frogs also have a toxin that they get from the food that they eat, however, if they are feed a captive diet such as mealworms and crickets, they become non-toxic in 6 months in captivity (so I've heard). Do you think the same holds true for certain puffers? I just wondered about the coincedence. I don't plan on eating a puffer. I may get one for a pet though.

You are correct, captive puffers diet generally does not contain the bacteria to keep them toxic. But yes don't test the theory just in case

I've done a lot of research on puffer toxin in my bachelors and masters and I do not believe that is always the case. Many puffers appear to have endogenous sources for their toxin. There are many symbiotic TTX producing bacteria within puffers.

Ah that's interesting do you have any resources I could look at as it fascinates me. I was going on some of Neil monks posts I have read somewhere else. So is it some puffers or all puffers? Is there a difference between salt water and fresh water?

salt water puffers tend to have TTX and fresh water puffers generally have STX and some even have a mixture of the two and their analogues GTX2 and GTX3 ...

None of the wild vs. endogenous source data is carved in stone. Even in the wild around Japan - where the fish are eaten as fugu - there is strong seasonal variation as well as species to species variation. As puffers are circumpolar and occupy a huge variety of niches, generalization tend to fail if examined closely or in specific cases.

The safest generalization are that the toxin's source tends to be bacterial but also tend to be modified by the fish (or cephalopod, or frog or newt, or whatever critter actually "uses" it as a defense); that toxicty among the end-user critters tends to fade in captivity but on completely unpredictable timetables; and that folks who ignore the fact that caaptives may be toxic are eligible for the Darwin awards.

In other words, do not touch your puffers. Their skin is unique and relatively fragile, and may be toxic. Err on the side of caution.

I watched "River Monsters" last night and it made me think of our puffers toxins... The thing that made me think about it, was stingrays. Rays also have skin that is for the most part covered in toxin, with the most being concentrated on the tail (as far as the narrator is concerned). Anyone know if it's the same stuff?

I can provide some in a few weeks if you remind me (too insanely busy right now). The issue is you'll have to pay to access them, my subscriptions is paid for in my tuition/by the university.