Although regulations vary throughout Japan, in some places chefs must train for two to three years and pass a rigorous exam in order to be able to prepare and serve fugu.
Even with the laws regarding the preparation and serving of fugu, people do occasionally die from eating it. But death is not the only possible result: fugu can cause a variety of unpleasant symptoms, and in just the right dosage it can cause a paralytic state that resembles death.
This state may lead to death or permanent brain damage due to hypoxia. There are many old accounts in Japan of people being declared dead while in this state. The stories speak of people retaining consciousness throughout the experience and hearing themselves being declared dead and their relatives weeping.
In some cases, accounts say that the person came out of the paralysis in the morgue, during their funeral, or on the way to be buried or cremated. When someone dies of fugu poisoning, it is therefore customary for the family to wait a few days before burial or cremation in case the person wakes up. There is enough toxin in one pufferfish to kill 30 adult humans, and there is no known antidote. Amazingly, the meat of some pufferfish is considered a delicacy. Called fugu in Japan, it is extremely expensive and only prepared by trained, licensed chefs who know that one bad cut means almost certain death for a customer.
In fact, many such deaths occur annually. There are more than species of pufferfish worldwide. Most are found in tropical and subtropical ocean waters, but some species live in brackish and even fresh water. They have long, tapered bodies with bulbous heads. Some wear wild markings and colors to advertise their toxicity, while others have more muted or cryptic coloring to blend in with their environment.
They range in size from the 1-inch-long dwarf or pygmy puffer to the freshwater giant puffer, which can grow to more than 2 feet in length. They are scaleless fish and usually have rough to spiky skin. All have four teeth that are fused together into a beak-like form.
The diet of the pufferfish includes mostly invertebrates and algae. Large specimens will even crack open and eat clams, mussels, and shellfish with their hard beaks. Poisonous puffers are believed to synthesize their deadly toxin from the bacteria in the animals they eat.
Even with proper preparation by a trained chef, about a half dozen diners die every year from the paralyzing effects of eating puffer fish, so they should generally not be considered food. Despite using their fins to help them swim with a tail fin acting as a rudder , puffer fish are notoriously slow-moving.
However, they do have other methods for deterring—or defeating—predators out to get them, said Claricoates, including:. Puffer fish do not have scales, but instead have spines which you may not be able to get a good look at until they puff up , said Claricoates.
As a fish owner, you have to be sure that the water quality is excellent—specifically nitrite, nitrate and ammonia levels in your tank. If these levels are high, it often indicates a dirty tank, and can create health issues for your fish, she said. Water checks can be done by fish stores for you on a monthly basis or you can purchase a home kit to test your water, she said. A puffer fish, if kept in an ideal environment, can live up to ten years.
In the wild, puffer fish are predators, and eat a variety of snails, shellfish, crustaceans and other fish, said Claricoates. In captivity, puffers will eat almost anything, so a variety of foods should be offered to allow for a healthy mix, she said. Claricoates recommends a diet consisting of foods with shells, including blue crab, mussels, clams, shrimp, live snails and bloodworms.
She also advised that when or if you are offering live food, it must be quarantined in a separate aquarium for a month prior to feeding it to your puffer fish. This ensures the food is healthy and prevents puffer illness from unhealthy food.
Many fish species have teeth that stop growing at some point, but puffer fish do not. Explore More. Common Name: Pufferfish. Scientific Name: Tetraodontidae.
Type: Fish. Diet: Carnivore. Group Name: School. Size: Up to 3 feet.
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