Pfeffer's Flamboyant Cuttlefish

[Omega]

i stumbled across an article on yahoo earlier about a cuttle and it was a gorgeous celph. heres a link to its wiki:
Metasepia pfefferi - Wikipedia
anyone know more about its toxin/if it has ever entered the pet trade in the past

 

[DWhatley]

You will find some discussion on the flamboyant in the Exotics and Rare Species forum (you will need to be signed in to see the forum)

 

[Omega]

i looked back, most of the articles are at least a year old and none say what exactly the toxin is..merely that it exists just like all the online websites I can find on them. It seems very odd..i'm mostly trying to figure out if its as or more dangerous than a blue ring in how toxic it is and how it delivers the toxin.

 

[Nancy]

Yes, this species was found (rarely) in the pet trade but not recently. A few were even kept by Tonmo members.

There was talk of them being raised for the pet trade several years ago, but nothing materialized.

The toxin appears to be in the muscle tissue. Does anyone know about the bite?

Nancy

 

[DWhatley]

The last discussion I read was that it was in the flesh and consumption was necessary to have an issue. Here is a quot from Mark Norman during the NOVA 2007 Kings of Camouflage interview:

MARK NORMAN: Well, it turns out the flamboyant cuttlefish is toxic. It's as toxic as blue-ringed octopuses. And blue-ringed octopuses have killed humans from their bites, so we've got the first deadly cuttlefish in the world. And it's amazing on a couple of levels. First of all, it's actually poisonous flesh, the muscles themselves are poisonous. So this is the first time that flesh that is deadly has been reported in any of these groups of animals. And secondly, the toxin itself is not known. It's some completely different class of toxins. And toxins like those could be the key to whole new discoveries for lots of human medical conditions.

I have not seen anything more recent.

 

[Thales]

Normans info from Kings of Camouflage is the only info. In research for the Reef Life Flamboyant article (which I'll get Tony to post soon) I couldn't find anything else, or find anyone who knew if research is being done.

 

[mucktopus]

Blue ring flesh and skin is also poisonous:

Becky Williams and Roy Caldwell 2009 Toxicon. 1;54(3):345-53.
Intra-organismal distribution of tetrodotoxin in two species of blue-ringed octopuses (Hapalochlaena fasciata and H. lunulata).


Abstract

In-depth studies on the intra-organismal distribution of toxin may yield valuable clues about potential ecological functions. The distribution of tetrodotoxin (TTX) in previously unexamined tissues of two species of blue-ringed octopuses, wild-caught Hapalochlaena fasciata and Hapalochlaena lunulata from the aquarium industry, was surveyed. Tissues from each individual were examined separately. Tetrodotoxin was detected in posterior salivary gland (PSG), arm, mantle, anterior salivary glands, digestive gland, testes contents, brachial heart, nephridia, gill, and oviducal gland of H. fasciata. By contrast TTX was found only in the PSG, mantle tissue, and ink of H. lunulata. The highest concentrations of TTX resided in the PSG of both species; however, the arms and mantle contained the greatest absolute amounts of TTX. Minimum total amounts of TTX per octopus ranged from 60 to 405 microg in H. fasciata and from 0 to 174 microg in H. lunulata and correlated well with the amounts in the PSG. Transport of TTX in the blood is loosely suggested by the presence of the toxin in blood-rich organs such as the gill and brachial hearts. The distributional data also suggest both offensive and defensive functions of TTX.

 

[DWhatley]

Interesting that TXX was also in the ink.

 

[Omega]

if poison is usually defense..then why does it sound like the cuttles only kill if they get eaten? or is it the flesh and bite are poison?

 

[esquid]

if poison is usually defense..then why does it sound like the cuttles only kill if they get eaten? or is it the flesh and bite are poison?

Poisonous tissue can a survival factor for the species as a whole while not protecting individuals. This selects against other species that would eat the poisonous species and is such a stressful. But, many species that have poisonous tissue advertize this with bright and highly contrasted coloration. This is a strategy that is so successful there are non-poisonous species that mimic the poison indication color displays for protection.

 

[DWhatley]

One of the reasons they started looking at this little guy for poison was its behavior. Instead of running for cover, it "dances" and displays, typical of a broadcast message of "I am poisonous, you best not eat me".