Abstract

Pufferfish, which have been known to be highly toxic for a long time is very popular species in demand, especially in far eastern countries; in Japan, in particular because of their traditional status although they can cause death. Even though there have been cases of Tetrodoxin (TTX) poisoning for centuries in this country, pufferfish is accepted as delicious seafood. Pufferfish has been seen very often in the Mediterranean countries for a decade as a result of lessepsian migration. Silver-checked toadfish Lagocephalus sceleratus (Gmelin, 1789) has negative effects on local species, fishing and public health. In this study, the seasonal and sexual changes in nutritional composition and fatty acids of muscle tissues were investigated. As a result of our study, it was determined that protein, lipid, water and TMS levels of L. sceleratus were 20.66-21.60%, 0.61- 1.66%, 76.05-77.30 and 1.23-1.54% respectively. 21 different fatty acid species were detected in the muscle tissues of the pufferfish. As a result of the research, it was found that the fatty acids detected at high levels were palmitic acid (C16: 0), stearic acid (C18: 0), oleic acid (C18: 1n9), vacenic acid (C18: 1n7), linoleic acid (C18: 2n6) (C20: 4n6), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20: 5n3), docosadienoic acid (C22: 2 cis) and decosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22: 6n3). If this type of toxin were not available, it would be a particularly nourishing seafood, especially in terms of protein content and unsaturated fatty acid content.