Abstract:
Tropical and subtropical xanthid crabs are known for containing
potent neurotoxins, such as paralytic shellfish poison and
tetrodotoxin (TTX), which can cause human intoxication.
Although the toxic xanthid crab Atergatis foridus is known to be
distributed on Jeju Island on the south coast of Korea,
information about TTX in this crab is yet to be available. In this
study, we used a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) to screen for TTX levels in A. foridus and A.
integerrimus, a member of the family Xanthidae recently
collected from the southern coast of Jeju Island. The cELISA
assay indicated A. foridus contained weak to moderate toxic
levels of TTX in their tissues; the walking leg muscle showed the
highest TTX concentration, followed by the gonad,
hepatopancreas, chelipeds muscle, stomach, gills, and
cephalothorax muscle, with the TTX contents per individual
ranging from 29.64 to 109.06 μg. In contrast, the ELISA revealed
that TTX levels in all A. integerrimus tissues analyzed were
below the detection limit. This study first reports TTX toxin in
the xanthid crab A. foridus, and the findings provide fundamental
information for monitoring the toxicity of the xanthid crabs on
the coast of Jeju Island.
