Kuzey Kıbrıs denizlerinde yaşayan benekli balon balığı (Lagocephalus sceleratus (Gmelin 1789))'nın çeşitli dokularında bulunan tetrodotoksin (TTX) düzeylerinin belirlenmesi
Özet
Lagocephalus sceleratus (Gmelin 1789), first seen in the seas of Northern Cyprus in early 2000s. After a short period of time they adopted to the ecosystem and become one of the dominant species. In addition to changing the balance within the ecosystem; coastal fishing activities using traditional methods are also adversely affected primarily due to inedibility with toxic flesh and due to damage caused to tools and equipment used in fishing. In this study; while attempting to understand the tetrodotoxin levels in various tissues of L. sceleratus caught in the seas of Northern Cyprus at different seasons; the research identified the tetrodotoxin levels in skin, muscle, intestine, gonads and liver using TTX ELISA Test Kit with Indirect Competitive Enzyme-Labelled Immunoassay Method and standard curve in species caught by fishermen. The levels of tetrodotoxin vary among tissues in different seasons. Gonads have become the most toxic tissue other than the summer season. When all seasons are taken into consideration, the three most toxic tissues are determined as: Gonads (0,22 µg/g), liver (0,19 µg/g) and intestine (0,18 µg/g). In this study; tetrodotoxin levels were found differ from the levels of tetrodotoxin in L. sceleratus which are researched in other studies in the Mediterranean. The lack of direct terrestrial linkage of the island of Cyprus from the main land which is directly affected by the Red Sea; and deep sea barriers, may inhibit the passage of tetrodotoxin vectors. This could be the reason of the difference in toxicity.