| Takifugu | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Tetraodontiformes |
| Family: | Tetraodontidae |
| Subfamily: | Tetraodontinae |
| Genus: | Takifugu T. Abe, 1949 |
| Type species | |
| Takifugu ocellatus Linnaeus, 1758
| |
| Species | |
|
25, See species table below | |
| Synonyms | |
Takifugu, also known by the Japanese name fugu (河豚, lit. "river pig"), is a genus of pufferfish with 25 species, most of which are native to salt and brackish waters of the northwest Pacific, but a few species are found in freshwater in Asia or more widely in the Indo-Pacific region. Their diet consists mostly of algae, molluscs, invertebrates and sometimes crustaceans.
The fish contains lethal amounts of the poison tetrodotoxin in the internal organs, especially the liver and the ovaries, but also in the skin and the testes. The poison paralyzes the muscles while the victim stays fully conscious, and eventually dies from asphyxiation. There is currently no antidote, and the standard medical approach is to try to support the respiratory and circulatory system until the effect of the poison wears off.
- ^ Kottelat, Maurice (2013). The fishes of the inland waters of Southeast Asia: A catalogue and core bibliography of the fishes known to occur in freshwaters, mangroves and estuaries. Vol. 27. The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. p. 476.
- ^ Matsuura, Keiichi (1990). "The pufferfish genus Fugu Abe, 1952, a junior subjective synonym of Takifugu Abe, 1949". Bull. Natn. Sci. Mus., Tokyo, Ser. A. 16: 15–20.