fugu fish (河豚魚) in an aquarium

Does anyone ever eat fugu fish?

Fugu fish, also known as puffer fish, フグ or ふぐin Japan and 河豚魚 in China. They live in the sea and some of them in fresh water (淡水)in Yangtze river in China [0]. 

It is a delicacy in some restaurants in Japan. In Song (宋) dynasty it was as one of the “three delicacies of the Yangtze (長江三鮮)” [1].

But eating it is a risk on your own. Its liver, ovary, eyes and skin contain a deadly poison, tetrodotoxin （TTX）， a neurotoxin for blocking the sodium channel [1], [2] (for elucidating the mechanism of the ionic mechanism of nerve excitation and inhibition, including the sodium and potassium channels, Hodgkin and Huxley won 1963 Nobel prize in Physiology and Medicine [3]; for potassium channel’s 3 D structure, MacKinnon won 2003 Nobel prize in Chemistry) [4]). There is no antidote [1],[5]. Victims of the toxin are conscious, but hard to breathe, dizzy, exhausted... There are some poisoning cases each year, including fatality [1], [2].

There are around 200 species of fugu fish [1].

Long porcupine puffer in an aquarium in October:

 

[0]. https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%B2%B3%E8%B1%9A/14903992

[1]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugu

[2]. https://notesofnomads.com/poisonous-fugu-pufferfish-tokyo-japan/

[3]. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3424716/#:~:text=Together%20with%20John%20Carew%20Eccles,excitation%20and%20inhibition%20in%20the

[4]. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2003/popular-information/

[5]. https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/food-drink/article/2185125/pufferfish-china-beijing-diners-lured-delicacy-now-country-has

 

 

 

 

 

所有跟帖： 

• 河豚原來長這樣！多謝科普。帖子做的象科研小論文。好讚！ -盈盈一笑間- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/22/2023 postreply 09:28:02

• 長江沿岸吃河豚比較多。美味，但危險。小時候在家聽說過有人吃河豚被毒死的事情。 -盈盈一笑間- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/22/2023 postreply 09:38:53

• Oh, that’s sooo cute -Oona- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/22/2023 postreply 10:41:31

• 謝謝觀看。 -xia23- ♂ (0 bytes) () 10/22/2023 postreply 14:15:17

• Has anyone heard about this? It was very sensational then. — -唐宋韻- ♂ (325 bytes) () 10/22/2023 postreply 17:52:52

• 謝謝， 沒聽說過. -xia23- ♂ (13295 bytes) () 10/23/2023 postreply 04:15:01

• 第一次見到河豚的真容，挺可愛的。人們知道有毒也要吃因為太好吃了哈哈 -cicila- ♀ (0 bytes) () 10/23/2023 postreply 06:54:46

• 我沒吃過，但是也有說湯好吃，肉不怎麽樣的，見注3 -xia23- ♂ (510 bytes) () 10/24/2023 postreply 12:25:12