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An 83-year-old woman in Kluang, Johor has died after eating puffer fish while her husband is still being treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). According to state news agency Bernama, Johor Health and Unity Committee chairman Ling Tian Soon in a statement on Tuesday (Mar 28) said that the couple had bought the fish from an online seller on Facebook. He said that it was the couple’s first time consuming puffer fish.

A combination of cocaine and toxic pufferfish liver sent a Florida man to the emergency room, according to a new case report. The liver from a pufferfish, also known as fugu, is considered a delicacy in Japan. But eating it is risky, as the fish's liver contains a high concentration of a deadly poison known as tetrodotoxin (TTX), which causes paralysis if ingested. The 43-year-old man's case was more complex than a typical fugu-eater's, however. Over the past few days, he had ingested cocaine and eaten canned foods, which made his physicians wonder whether foodborne botulism was at play, too....

Seabed circles ‘Whodunnit?’ solved by David Catchpoole 5-24-19 In 1995, divers off the coast of Japan discovered a circular structure about two metres (6 ft) in diameter carved in the seafloor sand. Consisting of multiple ridges symmetrically radiating out from a small patterned circle in the centre, more of these geometric seabed formations were soon discovered nearby. These ‘underwater crop circles’—as some dubbed them—mysteriously came and went, and “appeared to be the work of an underwater artist, carefully working with tools. … But who or what created them?”1

In the old days, when fishermen caught pufferfish, chances are they would be thrown back into the sea. After all, pufferfish, from the order Tetraodontiformes, are known to be poisonous to humans as they contain tetrodotoxin, a substance toxic enough to kill a person in a few hours when ingested in amounts of as little as 25mg. In addition to this, there is no known antidote to this toxin, which is considered even deadlier to humans than cyanide. Those days are gone, as some enterprising fishermen have deci­ded that filleted pufferfish can be sold to the unwary. Filleted pufferfish is...

Dolphins are said to share the human traits of bravery, jealousy and even a sense of humor. But it seems they share some worrying vices as well. Scientists were amazed at footage of the mammals apparently getting “high” with the help of a toxic puffer fish. In an extraordinary scene filmed for a new TV series, the dolphins are shown gently passing the fish between them. Experts believe the creatures are using the toxins, which emerge from the puffer fish as part of its defense mechanism, for their own enjoyment. They nudge the fish with their snouts and as the...

'The remora sucker is a truly amazing anatomical specialisation but, strange as it may seem, it evolved from a spiny fin,' said Dr Matt Friedman of Oxford University's Department of Earth Sciences, lead author of the report. 'In this fossil the fin is clearly modified as a disc but is found on the back of the fish. It enables us to say that first fin spines on the back broadened to form wide segments of a suction disc. After the disc evolved, it migrated to the skull, and it was there that individual segments became divided in two, the number...

Scientists have been examining the jaws of the pufferfish, which has evolved over millions of years to form a beak. Pufferfish use these to break open the shells of molluscs and crabs. Beaks are more "robust and practical", according to Dr Gareth Fraser, lead researcher. Another theory states that, in the future, human beings will develop the ability to endlessly replace their teeth, to have an unlimited supply, not unlike sharks.

A McHenry County man has pleaded guilty to obtaining a deadly puffer-fish poison for use as a weapon. Authorities say Edward F. Bachner IV wanted to use it to kill his wife and collect on a $20 million insurance policy.

YOKOHAMA, Japan, Nov. 28 (UPI) -- An aquaculture company in Japan says it raised 50,000 fogu, or puffer fish, that are non-poisonous when consumed. The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday while scientists have created a safe version of the potentially deadly culinary delicacy, at least one chef in Japan remains dedicated to the art of carefully preparing puffer fish for customers. Shinichi Ueshima, chef of the Dote fugu restaurant in Yokohama, Japan, said the thrill associated with eating puffer fish is part of the animal's allure. "It's a very tasty fish, but that's not the only reason people choose to go...

Complete title too long for the form. Here's the total title: Lake in the Hills man charged with pufferfish toxin purchase had a $5 million life insurance policy on his wife, authorities say Federal prosecutors also say she was the intended target in 2005, when her husband sought a hit man A Lake in the Hills man arrested after ordering a deadly pufferfish toxin had a cache of weapons in his home and was named as the beneficiary of a $5 million life insurance policy on his wife, prosecutors said Monday. Federal prosecutors also said that the wife, Rebecca Bachner,...

Edward F. Bachner IV spent years prowling dark corners of the Internet, where he sought a hit man to carry out the "permanent retirement" of an unidentified woman, according to a federal complaint filed Tuesday. Bachner, who was accused this week of buying a dangerous pufferfish toxin, suggested in one e-mail that payment for the murder would be an AK-47 assault rifle and $8,000, the complaint alleges. "If we have an agreement, I can send you specific info that will get you within 5 yards of mark on . . . any weekday," Bachner wrote, according to the court record....

Chemical allegedly found in FBI-led search can cause muscle paralysis in humans ~~~~~ A Lake in the Hills man was charged Monday with possession of a powerful neurotoxin found in species of puffer fish and octopus after agents with the FBI-led counter-terrorism task force raided his home. Edward Bachner, 35, was charged in a criminal complaint with one count of illegal possession of tetrodotoxin. He was arrested Monday and appeared briefly before U.S. Magistrate Judge P. Michael Mahoney in Rockford and was being held pending a detention hearing Wednesday morning, authorities said. Tetrodotoxin is an extremely powerful neurotoxin that in...

Scientists Find Toxin in Puffer Fish From Two Fla. Rivers; Poison Blamed for Sickening 13 People The Associated Press Published: May 18, 2002 TITUSVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Scientists investigating sickness suffered by 13 people who ate puffer fish have found a toxin in the species from two Florida rivers. Tests found saxitoxin poison was heaviest in puffers caught in the Indian River near Titusville, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. The toxin also was found in fish from the Banana River. On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration warned against eating puffer fish harvested from the Titusville...