Ciguatera Fish Poisoning (CFP) is a tropical disease caused by the consumption of fish contaminated with ciguatoxins (CTXs). Currently, the only feasible prevention methods for CFP are to avoid the consumption of fish of certain species from some regions, avoid larger fish of certain species, or avoid all fish caught from specific regions. Here, we quantified levels of P-CTX-1B in Spanish Mackerel (Scomberomorus commerson), which is the main fish species that causes CFP in New South Wales and Queensland, Australia, using LC-MS detection against a toxin standard. We found detectable P-CTX-1B in both flesh and liver tissues in fish from New South Wales (n = 71, 1.4% prevalence rate, with a confidence interval of 1%-4%, and 7% prevalence, 1%-12%, in flesh and liver, respectively). In the small sample of fish from Queensland, there was a 46% prevalence (19-73%, n = 13). Toxin levels found were 0.13 μg kg-1 to <0.1 μg kg-1 in flesh, and 1.39 μg kg-1 to <0.4 μg kg-1 in liver, indicating that liver tissue had a significantly higher concentration (∼5 fold) of P-CTX-1B. No apparent relationship was observed between the length or weight of S. commerson and the detection of P-CTX-1B in this study. Footnote.
Keywords: CFP, Ciguatera Fish Poisoning; CTX, Ciguatoxin; Ciguatera fish poisoning; Ciguatoxins; Fish length; LC–MS, Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry; LC–MS/MS; MTX, Maitotoxin; NMR, Nuclear magnetic resonance; NSW, New South Wales; NT, Northern Territory; P-CTX-1B, Pacific Ciguatoxin 1B; QLD, Queensland; RLB, Radio ligand binding; SFM, Sydney Fish Market; SIMS, The Sydney Institute for Marine Science; Scomberomorus commerson; Spanish Mackerel; US-FDA, United States Food and Drug Administration; WA, Western Australia.