Lionfish ceviche.....mmmmmm

[Doc]

The flip side:

I think Barracuda have this issue, as well.

There used to be folklore about placing a silver dime in the flesh of the fish... if it turned color, the fish was bad. Or if a sweet potato boiled with it changed color.

Also something about whether/if the cat would eat it.

I don't know if the cat was supposed to turn color or what, but...

"A faculty member at the University of Hawaii, Dr. Yoshi tsugi Hokama, has developed a scientific test kit to determine whether or not that fish you just caught is really safe to eat.

The kit, which California sailing magazine Latitude 38 says "works like one of those pregnancy kits you buy in the drug store", has only one drawback the test takes an hour. Can you wait that long before you toss those succulent kingfish steaks onto the barbecue grill?

For information on ordering kits, contact Oceanit Test Systems. 1100 Alakea Street, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813, USA. Tel (808) 531-3017,
fax (808) 531-3177, E-mail oceanit@oceanit.com" or clicko el linko: http://cigua.com/

Prolly not as handy as a CO2 tester, but there ya' go.

 

[DandyDon]

Barracuda are infamous for it, and other fishes listed in the Wiki article are a risk - reef dwelling predators mostly. Oddly snapper and grouper are included, but then the USDA has issued warnings for those and others from specific areas at times. It varies with the microscopic source, but is so far unpredictable.

The cat test is to feed a generous amount to one and see if he gets sick. If the cat dies, don't eat it; if the cat isn't bothered, either safe fish or tough cat.

Not much silver in coins these days. I've heard of using copper coins too, but not much of them either. Besides if those were true, it'd be easy to build an electronic test.

It's also said that flies won't land on a bad fish, so maybe eat the ones they sample? Yuck. Reminds me of an AI lunch bar I tried on Cozumel once, not far from cattle.

I guess we may have to wait until some people get hit from eating lions...??

 

[Doc]

It's also said that flies won't land on a bad fish, so maybe eat the ones they sample? Yuck.

Eating flies? Double yuck.

 

[DandyDon]

Eating flies? Double yuck.

Yeah, I walked away from the outdoor lunch bar at the Coz AI, went inside wearing my dive skin wondering if anyone would have the guts to challenge me? Nah.

As far as the fish taste, I'll just watch others eat it. We had a LDS trip to Amerbergris that had a cookout the last night including cudas - I passed. Was afraid half the group would miss the plane the next day but we lucked out.

 

[fab50diver]

well if you run out you'll have to share the recipe and teach my hubby how to clean one!

 

[DiveonUtila]

But guys, you know that this toxicity in fish is present in pretty much all top species now, due to the fact they digest the most amount of fish vicariously, simply by being at the top of the food chain? Barracuda seem to get a lot of flack but the sad reality is there is so much poison in our oceans from pollution that the toxins are present in EVERYTHING.
Every tiny bit of litter that blows into the ocean will start a petrochemical- infused food chain. Nice.

 

[Hank49]

But guys, you know that this toxicity in fish is present in pretty much all top species now, due to the fact they digest the most amount of fish vicariously, simply by being at the top of the food chain? Barracuda seem to get a lot of flack but the sad reality is there is so much poison in our oceans from pollution that the toxins are present in EVERYTHING.
Every tiny bit of litter that blows into the ocean will start a petrochemical- infused food chain. Nice.

Are you talking about ciguatera?

 

[DandyDon]

Excerpting from Ciguatera - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ciguatera is a foodborne illness caused by eating certain reef fishes whose flesh is contaminated with toxins originally produced by dinoflagellates such as Gambierdiscus toxicus which lives in tropical and subtropical waters. These dinoflagellates adhere to coral, algae and seaweed, where they are eaten by herbivorous fish who in turn are eaten by larger carnivorous fish. In this way the toxins move up the foodchain and bioaccumulate. Gambierdiscus toxicus is the primary dinoflagellate responsible for the production of a number of similar toxins that cause ciguatera. These toxins include ciguatoxin, maitotoxin, scaritoxin and palytoxin. Predator species near the top of the food chain in tropical and subtropical waters, such as barracudas, snapper, moray eels, parrotfishes, groupers, triggerfishes and amberjacks, are most likely to cause ciguatera poisoning, although many other species cause occasional outbreaks of toxicity. Ciguatoxin is very heat-resistant, so ciguatoxin-laden fish cannot be detoxified by conventional cooking.

Snapper is the only one I eat, but I am wondering...?

 

[hdtran]

I'm not a huge fan of wikipedia. In this case, though, the wikipedia appears to be substantially correct. (I am, for example, going to take issue with listing triggerfish and parrotfish as apex predators. They're not.)

See the CDC site here: Disease Listing, Marine Toxins, General Information | CDC Bacterial, Mycotic Diseases

On the other hand, to eliminate all risks, I would probably have to also stop eating sushi, tofu, apples etc. Not going to do that (stop eating tofu, I mean )

So, take things with a grain of salt, and in moderation (the grain of salt too! It's bad for your kidneys and your blood pressure!)

 

[GoAnywherePhoto]

I'm not a huge fan of wikipedia. In this case, though, the wikipedia appears to be substantially correct. (I am, for example, going to take issue with listing triggerfish and parrotfish as apex predators. They're not.)

I don't think the ciguatera issue with parrotfish is that they directly eat the algae that grows on the reef and ingest the ciguatera bacteria that way. The triggers probably build it up by eating the crustaceans and such that live on the reef. Not sure though.