Sea cucumbers look exactly like horseshoe crabs; eating them by mistake can be fatal.
They look very similar, but eating sea cucumbers can be deadly due to the tetrodotoxin they contain.
Sea cucumbers and horseshoe crabs both live in coastal areas, in bays, saltwater lagoons, and estuaries. Their similar appearance makes them easy to confuse. Every year, the country still records cases of fatal poisoning from eating sea cucumber eggs.
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Sea cucumbers and horseshoe crabs look quite similar, but sea cucumbers always travel in pairs. |
The horseshoe crab (scientific name Tachypleus tridentatus) has an unusual appearance, with a hard shell like a crab's, a flattened, round body, about a handspan in diameter (20 cm), and eight small legs under its belly. It swims very slowly and crawls like a crab. Female horseshoe crabs weigh about one kilogram, while males are smaller, weighing only half as much as females. A characteristic of horseshoe crabs is that they always travel in pairs.
The horseshoe crab (scientific name Carcinoscorpius rotunicauda) closely resembles the horseshoe crab, but it is a venomous species that can be fatal if consumed.
The most noticeable difference is that horseshoe crabs always travel in pairs, while sea cucumbers are smaller and travel alone.
According to the Food Safety Department of the Ministry of Health, horseshoe crab eggs are delicious and nutritious, while sea cucumber eggs are highly toxic and can cause dangerous poisoning if consumed. The deadly toxin in sea cucumbers is Tetrodotoxin, an extremely potent poison similar to pufferfish toxin. Food poisoning cases caused by Tetrodotoxin are usually very severe. This toxin affects the central nervous system, causing paralysis, circulatory and respiratory arrest, and rapid death.
This toxin is rapidly absorbed through the digestive tract within 10-15 minutes, reaching peak concentration in the blood after 20 minutes, and symptoms of poisoning appear only a few hours after ingestion. The lethal dose for humans is 1-2 milligrams of tetrodotoxin. The main causes of death are respiratory muscle paralysis and hypotension.
To prevent poisoning, the Food Safety Administration advises people to absolutely not eat sea cucumbers, including their eggs and meat.
