@article{fdi:010062230,
  title = {{C}iguatera fish toxicity in {F}rench {P}olynesia : size does not always matter},
  author = {{G}aboriau, {M}atthias and {P}onton, {D}ominique and {D}arius, {H}. {T}. and {C}hinain, {M}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{A}ccumulation of ciguatoxins ({CTX}s) in tropical reef fish tissues during their life is responsible of the most prevalent human seafood intoxication in the {S}outh {P}acific called {C}iguatera {F}ish {P}oisoning ({CFP}). {I}t has been assumed for a long time that {CTX}s are transferred and accumulated along the trophic food chain, and consequently that smaller individuals within a given fish species are safer to eat than larger ones. {H}owever, the relationship between toxicity and fish size has been studied for a limited number of species only and the conclusions are often contradictory. {T}he toxicity of 856 fishes from 59 different species sampled in six islands in {F}rench {P}olynesia between 2003 and 2011 was assessed by {R}eceptor {B}inding {A}ssay. {A}mong them, 45 species x island and 32 families x island for which the number of individuals was >= 6 allowed testing the relationship between toxicity and size. {E}xcept for six specimens of {L}utjanus bohar caught in {F}akarava ({P} < 0.01; {R}-2 = 0.854), the 44 remaining species x island showed no significant increase of {CTX}s concentration with fish total length ({TL}). {M}oreover, the proportion of toxic individuals decreased significantly for {E}pinephelus polyphekadion from {F}akarava (n = 24; {P} < 0.05) and {K}yphosus cinerascens from {R}aivavae (n = 29; {P} < 0.05), while no significant variation was detected for the other 43 species x island. {A}t the family level, only three positive and three negative relationships between size and {CTX}s concentration were observed among the 32 family x island analyzed. {N}o relationship between the proportion of toxic fish within a family and the relative total length of individuals were observed. {T}he lack of relationship between toxicity and size observed for most of the species and families from the six islands suggests that fish size cannot be used as an efficient predictor of fish toxicity in {F}rench {P}olynesia. {T}hese results highlight the need for improving our knowledge about metabolic processes which may play a role in {CTX}s bio-accumulation and depuration among the different trophic levels of fishes.},
  keywords = {{C}iguatera ; {F}ish ; {T}otal length ; {T}rophic level ; {F}rench {P}olynesia ; {R}eceptor binding assay ; {POLYNESIE} {FRANCAISE}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{T}oxicon},
  volume = {84},
  numero = {},
  pages = {41--50},
  ISSN = {0041-0101},
  year = {2014},
  DOI = {10.1016/j.toxicon.2014.03.006},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010062230},
}