US EPA

1580011 

Technical Report 

Grammistin, the skin toxin of soapfishes, and its significance in the classification of the Grammistidae 

Randall, JE; Aida, K; Hibiya, T; Mitsuura, N; Kamiya, H; Hashimoto, Y 

1971 

HEEP/72/11358 

19 

2-3 

2-3 

HEEP COPYRIGHT: BIOL ABS. A toxin is produced in the mucus secreted by the skin of soapfishes. Greater quantities are produced when the fish are frightened. The toxin is capable of killing other fish, and mammals are killed when forced-fed the mucus. The symptoms are similar to those of ciguatera. A characteristic effect is the hemolysis of mammalian blood cells. Presumably the function of the secretion is protective, for the material has a distinctive bitter taste to humans, and an experiment is cited where a small soapfish was fed to a lion fish, which seized it, but dropped it immediately with indications of distaste, and thereafter would not again attempt to eat it. The chemical properties of the toxin are: it is insoluble in diethyl ether, petroleum ether and chloroform; it is somewhat soluble in water and physiological saline; it is soluble in hot 70 percent ethanol, n-butanol and n-amyl alcohol. It is heat labile in hot alkaline solutions, but heat stable in hot acid solutions. It appears to be a peptide. The toxin appears to be the same, or very similar for all species of the soapfish family that were tested, and the authors name the substance grammistin. The taxonomy of the soapfishes is discussed. A key is given to the genera and 6 spp. are described and figured.