Affiliation:
1. Centre of Marine Sciences (CCMAR/CIMAR LA), University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal
2. Energy and Environment Institute, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX, UK
Abstract
Tetrodotoxin (TTX) and its analogues are naturally occurring toxins historically responsible for human poisoning fatalities in Eastern Asia. It is typically linked to the consumption of pufferfish and, to a lesser extent, marine gastropods and crabs. In the scope of a comprehensive project to understand the prevalence of emergent toxins in edible marine organisms, we report, for the first time, the detection of TTX analogues in the soft tissues of edible crabs, the European fiddler crab (Afruca tangeri) and green crab (Carcinus maenas), harvested in southern Portugal. No TTX was detected in the analyzed samples. However, three TTX analogues were detected—an unknown TTX epimer, deoxyTTX, and trideoxyTTX. These three analogues were found in the European fiddler crab while only trideoxyTTX was found in the green crab, suggesting that the accumulation of TTX analogues might be influenced by the crabs’ different feeding ecology. These results highlight the need to widely monitor TTX and its analogues in edible marine species in order to provide adequate information to the European Food Safety Authority and to protect consumers.
Funder
European Union
FCT—Foundation for Science and Technology
CRESC Algarve 2020
Subject
Drug Discovery,Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics (miscellaneous),Pharmaceutical Science
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