tetrodotoxin

plural tetrodotoxins

1. countableuncountablemedicineA neurotoxin, originally discovered in Tetraodontiformes, and found in pufferfish, blue-ringed octopus, etc.

   Both creatures belong to a large pan-tropical order of fish, many of which have tetrodotoxin in their skin, liver, ovaries, and intestines.

   1985, Wade Davis, The Serpent and the Rainbow, Simon & Schuster, page 118

   2 more examples

   The blue-ringed octopus Hapalochlaena lunulata has tetrodotoxin, the deadly toxin it also releases in a bite, in their ink but the concentrations and effect in inking are not known.

   2017 August 9, Mark Carnall, “Why do cephalopods produce ink? And what's ink made of, anyway?”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 15 Mar 2023

   Among those who think of fugu as merely a distant delicacy, knowledge rarely goes beyond the fish’s infamous trait: In the most delicious species, the innards are suffused with the neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin (TTX).

   2020 December 4, Ligaya Mishan, “The Appealing and Potentially Lethal Delicacy That Is Fugu”, in The New York Times Style Magazine, archived from the original on 01 Jan 2021

   Synonyms: TTX