[Toxicity of puffer fish fins]

Puffer fish is prized as a Japanese traditional food and its fin is also used in the cuisine. However, whether the fin is edible or not is determined for convenience from the toxicity of skin, since little information is available about the toxicity of puffer fish fins. In the present study, we examined the toxicity of fins and skin of three toxic species, Takifugu vermicularis, T. snyderi, and T. porphyreus. The toxicity of T. vermicularis fins (< 5-52.4 MU/g) was significantly lower than that of skin (<5-1200 MU/g). HPLC analysis showed that tetrodotoxin was a major toxic principle irrespective of the toxicity value in each tissue of T. vermicularis. In the case of T. snyderi and T. porphyreus, the toxicity of fins was at almost the same level as that of the skin. The toxicity (< 10-12 MU/g) of caudal fins of T. porphyreus was apparently increased to 16.5-22.0 MU/g by drying. However, the toxin amounts in the dried fins were slightly decreased as compared with those of the non-dried fins. These results demonstrate that puffer fish with toxic skin also have toxic fins.