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Documented case of ciguatera on the Mexican Pacific coast
C H Lechuga-Devéze1, A P Sierra-Beltrán
1División de Biología Experimental, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, La Paz, México.
Abstract:
Serranidae and Labridae fish caught in 1993 at Alijos Rocks, 300 miles off East Magdalena Bay, Southern Baja California, caused severe illness of a fishing boat crew. The described symptoms resembled those of ciguatera. The presence of ciguatera-like toxins was confirmed on extracts from these fish using the mouse bioassay procedure, showing activities between 220 to 390 mouse units (M.U.). The founding of ciguatoxin at Alijos Rocks 24 degrees 57' N, 115 degrees 45' W) extends to the northeast its geographical distribution in the Pacific and locates the outbreak near the continental coastline.