Female newts (Taricha granulosa) produce tetrodotoxin laden eggs after long term captivity

We investigated the presence of tetrodotoxin (TTX) in the eggs of wild-caught newts (Taricha granulosa) at capture and again after one, two, and three years in captivity. Females initially produced eggs that contained quantities of TTX similar to previous descriptions of eggs from wild-caught adults. After the first year in captivity, the egg toxicity from each female declined, ultimately remaining constant during each of the successive years in captivity. Despite declining, all females continued to produce eggs containing substantial quantities of TTX during captivity. The decline in toxicity can not be attributed to declining egg mass but may be the result of the abbreviated reproductive cycle to which the captive newts were subjected in the lab. Finally, an estimate of the amount of TTX provisioned in the entire clutch from each female is similar to the quantity of TTX regenerated in the skin after electrical stimulation. These results, coupled with other long-term studies on the maintenance and regeneration of TTX in the skin, suggests an endogenous origin of TTX in newts.