POISONOUS FISHES 323 



new fishing grounds are entered and the spectrum of food fishes 

 broadened, pubhc acceptance will be one of the factors determining the 

 success of the venture. A few epidemics can have disastrous effects in a 

 struggling industry, resulting in enormous financial losses and wanton 

 waste of valuable fisheries resources. With the present trends in world 

 population and food supply we can ill afford waste of any food resource 

 and particularly those supplying protein. 



Results of Survey Studies 



The following report is based upon the field investigation pre- 

 viously mentioned. Table I consists of a compilation of families of 

 fishes which have been incriminated in human intoxications, animal 

 feeding and inoculation tests. This tabulation was made from 574 case 

 histories and technical reports. Cases resulting from ordinary bacterial 

 food intoxications were not included. In addition, approximately an- 

 other five hundred reports were received that were concerned with more 

 general aspects of poisonous marine organisms. 



Many persons have the erroneous idea that poisonous fishes are 

 restricted to "trash fishes", those species which would be generally un- 

 acceptable as food for humans, but such is not the case. Perusal of 

 Table I will reveal that the phylogenetic spread is remarkably broad. 

 Families marked with an asterisk indicate those groups which are gen- 

 erally considered to be of commercial importance by various Pacific 

 peoples. Some of the families listed are fresh-water, European, Asiatic 

 or American, but the bulk are Pacific marine fishes. The list obviously 

 fails to consider a number of important factors, viz., geographical lo- 

 cality, ecological biotope, maturity of the fish, and season of the year. 

 Hence, because a family is listed in this table it does not mean that any 

 or all of the members of that family are poisonous throughout their 

 geographic range. 



The problem of recognizing a poisonous plectognath is a relatively 

 simple one, since most of the members of this order adhere to a fairly 

 consistent morphological pattern. Numerous toxicological surveys and 

 case reports by Japanese, Australian and American scientists clearly in- 

 dicate that most plectognaths are to be regarded with suspicion until 

 proven otherwise.* However, the identification of poisonous non-plec- 

 tognath fishes presents some very real problems because of a number of 

 unique factors, viz.: (1) Apparently, under the proper environmental 



• In Japan and many of the other Oriental nations poisonous puffers are routinely eaten 

 and considered a delicacy. The fishes are prepared in a special manner in order to remove 

 the poison and thus make them safe for human consumption. However, in spite of these pre- 

 cautions, the Japanese Government reports more than 125 deaths a year resulting from the 

 eating of these fishes. During the 10-year period from 1927 to 1937 puffer poisoning accounted 

 for 44 percent of the total food poisonings in Japan and was listed as their greatest single 

 cause of fatal food intoxication. 



