Is Pufferfish Poisonous? A Detailed Guide to Daily Management Points for Farming

The pufferfish is also called the bubble fish, the puff fish, and the blow-belly fish, which already vividly describes its appearance. Whenever it encounters danger, it puffs up its belly and raises its small spines to protect itself; its appearance is truly adorable. So is the pufferfish poisonous? What are the daily management points for farming?

I. Is the pufferfish poisonous?

The pufferfish is poisonous. Almost all species of pufferfish contain tetrodotoxin (TTX), which is a neurotoxin; a person who ingests 0.5mg-3mg of pufferfish toxin can die. The toxin is heat-resistant: it is not destroyed at 100 degrees C for 8 hours, and can only be destroyed at 120 degrees C for 1 hour; salting and sun-drying also cannot destroy the toxin. The toxin mainly exists in parts of the pufferfish such as the gonads, liver, spleen, eyes, skin, and blood. The ovaries and liver are highly toxic, followed by the kidneys, blood, eyes, gills, and skin, while the testes and flesh are mostly weakly toxic or non-toxic. When cooking pufferfish, you must strictly and carefully remove the pufferfish's internal organs and eyes, remove the fish gills, peel off the fish skin, remove all tendons and blood, and wash repeatedly with clean water. Pufferfish meat is especially tender, delicious, and rich in nutrients. Its medicinal value is very high; from the toxins in its liver and ovaries, precious medicinal materials such as tetrodotoxin, tetrodonic acid, and tetrodotoxin from ovaries can be extracted.

II. What are the daily management points for pufferfish farming?

1. Pond patrol

Persist in patrolling the pond every day, observe the pufferfish's activities, the water color and water quality of the rearing pond, and inspect the breeding facilities. Water temperature, pH value, dissolved oxygen, ammonia nitrogen, and transparency should be measured regularly every day, and records should be kept.

2. Feeding

After pufferfish are stocked into the pond, there are certain requirements for water temperature. At 15 degrees, pufferfish still have a certain feeding ability, and they should be fed at regular times. In the early stage of stocking, let the pufferfish form a habit of eating at fixed points. The bait should be moist pellet bait, preferably made fresh and fed immediately. The usual feeding amount should reach half of the pufferfish's body weight, at least twice a day. When the water temperature drops below 12 degrees, the pufferfish's food intake will decrease noticeably. When the water temperature reaches 10 degrees, the pufferfish basically will not eat; at this time, feeding should be stopped and the water temperature should be appropriately increased. When feeding, let the pufferfish eat well and be full, and promptly remove leftover bait to prevent water quality pollution.

3. Disinfection and disease prevention

Before stocking pufferfish seedlings, disinfection work should be carried out on them to remove parasites and pathogens from the surface of the seedlings. Prevent injuries during the growth process, infection of wounds, and opportunities for bacteria to invade. When pufferfish overwinter, because the density is too high, diseases are very likely to occur. The most common diseases in pond-cultured pufferfish include saprolegniasis, rot disease, enteritis, and other diseases. During farming, prevention should be the main approach. Disinfect once every half month or once a month, use antibiotics and other drugs to disinfect the surface of the pufferfish, and regularly mix antibacterial drugs such as furazolidone, Scutellaria baicalensis, Phellodendron amurense, Isatis root, and Andrographis paniculata into the feed. Fish found to be already sick should be promptly taken out and kept in isolation for breeding and treatment to prevent the spread of fish diseases.

4. Pond transfer and water change

Changing the water in the pond can reduce the amount of waste and pathogens produced in the water by the pufferfish's metabolism, improving the pufferfish's growth environment. Transferring ponds is beneficial for carrying out periodic comprehensive disinfection of the fish pond and removing harmful organisms and parasites from the pond. Improving the pond water environment can effectively reduce the incidence of fish diseases and increase their survival rate during overwintering. Generally, the pond is transferred about once every 30 days, and one transfer is also needed before overwintering, carrying out a comprehensive and thorough disinfection of the pond.

5. Harvesting

When the breeding density is too high or there are individual differences, timely harvesting should be carried out, and they should be raised in separate ponds. The domestic market specification for pufferfish is more than 400 grams, so harvesting and sales should begin according to market demand to improve economic efficiency.