Isolation and structural elucidation of an ichthyocrinotoxin from the smooth trunkfish (Lactophrys triqueter...

An ichthyocrinotoxin has been isolated from the skin secretion of the smooth trunkfish, Lactophrys triqueter Linnaeus (family Ostraciidae). A crystalline toxin was isolated and identified as the choline chloride ester of palmitic acid. The toxin has a minimum lethal concentration of 2 ppm and an LC50 of 3.5 ppm using mosquito fish as the test organism. A trace quantity of the choline ester chloride of heptadecanoic acid was identified as a minor component of the toxin.