Fishes Carrying This Incurable Poison Are on the Rise

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“We’re likely to have more ciguateric fish in the future,” says the marine biologist Lucia Solino at the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere.

Some Basics [refs: 1, 2]

• Ciguatoxins are produced by the marine microalgae called Gambierdiscus toxicus. They bioaccumulate in fishes higher up in the food chain.
• Affected large fishes include Barracuda, black grouper, snappers, greater amberjack, hogfish, king mackerel, sea bass, and yellowfin grouper — most of which are valuable delicacies.
• Affected areas are the Caribbean Sea, Hawaii, and coastal Central America.
• Ciguatoxins poison humans and not fishes.
• Ciguatoxins is the most common outbreak of seafood poisoning with 50,000 reported cases per year globally.
• Ciguatoxin poisoning is likely underreported. The CDC says that only 2–10% of cases are actually diagnosed in the United States.
• Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, cardiac issues, and neurological signs such as tingling fingers and toes or feeling cold things as hot (or hot things as cold). Symptoms often heal on its own in days or weeks but can become chronic and persist for years.
• Severe symptoms include shortness of breath…