List of seafood dishes that can be poisonous

Seafood is a delicious and nutritious food. However, some seafood species contain many toxins that can cause poisoning and even death.

According to data published by the Nha Trang Institute of Oceanography, 39 species of marine life contain toxins capable of causing death in Vietnam's waters. The most frightening is the zebra puffer fish, which concentrates a terrible amount of poison; 100g of eggs can kill 200 people.

Among the 39 poisonous creatures announced by the Nha Trang Institute of Oceanography, there are 22 fish species, one octopus species, two snail species, three crab species, one horseshoe crab species and 10 sea snake species. In addition, two new freshwater puffer fish species were discovered in some provinces in the Mekong Delta, making a total of 41 poisonous creatures.

Most of the above-mentioned poisonous creatures are found in our country's waters, from the Gulf of Tonkin to the Gulf of Thailand, such as puffer fish, clouded goby fish, sea snakes, but there are also some species such as sea snails, crabs, blue-spotted squid... that are only found in the waters of the Central and Southeast regions.

Most of these species live both offshore and in coastal areas, bays, lagoons, large estuaries... Two freshwater puffer fish species identified as the blue-spotted puffer fish (Chelonodon nigroviridis) and the red-eyed puffer fish (Carinotetraodon lorteti) have only been discovered in the Mekong Delta.

These poisonous seafood species can harm humans in two main ways: through the digestive tract through dishes made from fish and seafood and through the animal's self-defense reaction when we accidentally touch them, are bitten, stung or shot with poisonous arrows.

Puffer fish

Extremely poisonous seafood

Of the 41 poisonous creatures above, there are 5 extremely poisonous species: Bird-toothed pufferfish, ash-faced pufferfish, striped-faced pufferfish, orange-spotted pufferfish, and zebra-gilled pufferfish, of which the orange-spotted pufferfish and zebra-gilled pufferfish are the two most poisonous species.

The zebra puffer fish (Aronthron immaculatus) has an egg-shaped body, black-edged dorsal fin, white belly... it doesn't look scary, but the eggs of this fish contain a terrible amount of poison. Every 100g of eggs can kill 200 people; high levels of poison appear from April to October.

After the zebra pufferfish, the orange-spotted pufferfish (Torquigener gallimaculatus) is also very scary, every 100g of eggs or liver of this fish can kill 60 - 70 people.

The deadly effects of seafood venom

According to research by scientists, the nature of the toxins in most of the above seafood belongs to the group of neurotoxins, so when humans are infected with this toxin, it will directly affect the nervous system and cardiovascular system, causing very serious poisoning symptoms.

Most of them are dangerous toxins with a high mortality rate in a very short time, with low toxic doses. Specifically, the poison contained in puffer fish and many other seafood such as blue-spotted squid, sea bream, clouded goby, etc. is tetrodotoxin, which has a very strong effect on the central nervous system, paralyzing the central nervous system, causing paralysis of the body, stopping circulation and respiration, leading to rapid death.

Sea cucumbers and sea urchins look similar so many people easily confuse them.

Sea cucumber is very cool to eat, but if you mistakenly eat sea cucumber, you will be poisoned.

Symptoms of poisoning are as follows:

In case of mild poisoning, mild illness: After eating toxic seafood from 10 minutes to a few hours, the patient feels numbness in the lips, tongue, mouth, face, fingers, hands, toes and feet. At the same time, there is headache, sweating, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, increased salivation...

Severe cases: The patient is exhausted, has muscle weakness, progressive muscle paralysis, and walks unsteadily. The muscle paralysis rapidly worsens, leading to paralysis of the whole body, including breathing, causing the patient to be unable to breathe, have respiratory failure, stop breathing, slow pulse, low blood pressure, and coma, leading to death.

In the body of poisonous fish and seafood, the eggs and liver are usually the two places where toxins are most concentrated. But there are also poisonous seafood where the meat and skin are the places where toxins are most concentrated, such as the clouded goby fish.

Although the poison of this fish is present in all parts of the body, it is most concentrated in the skin. 100g of skin can kill 9-10 people.

Blue spotted squid

As for the other three poisonous seafood species, which are the seed crab, the blue-spotted squid, and the sea urchin, all different parts of their bodies contain toxins. Therefore, scientists advise consumers to absolutely not use poisonous seafood to prepare food in any form and with any part of their bodies.

Stonefish

In fact, most cases of severe seafood poisoning are caused by eating fish and seafood containing strong toxins. In addition, some people are poisoned by touching or accidentally touching sea snakes, stonefish, blue-spotted squid, cone snails, etc., which cause them to bite, sting, or shoot poisonous arrows. The toxins of the animals will be released through their teeth or poisonous arrows into the human body through the wound, causing poisoning.

According to SK&DS