Poisonous animals of medical importance

Many of the possible culprits which can cause poisoning after ingestion life in tropical and warm marine waters. Since the international trade with tropical seafood is more and more expanding into countries far away from their origin, consumers in non endemic countries are increasingly at risk. Poisoning is therefore possible even far away from marine coasts.

In many cases the toxins found in marine seafood are produced by dinofagellates. Because of rapid changes as global warming and overload of nutrients such microorganisms are spreading into new areas. The table below shows the most important poisoning syndromes according to the marine habitats where potentially poisonous representatives are found.

¹ Cases reported from the western Gulf of Mexico and the Canary islands in the Eastern Atlantic

² Poisoning reported from the coast of Israel

³ Some species from brackish or fresh waters are also tetrodotoxic