The dangers of Zoos...

[bound_for_obx]

I read through the posts over at Reef Central and the guy had been fragging the zoos to bring to an aquarium show. He left the room for a few moments and when he came back the dog had its head in the rubbermade tub the frags were in.

 

[schoeplein]

This information has been brought up several times over the years on every fish board I visit.

...and has there been any 'real' issues other than the (sorry for the lack of emotion) irresponsibility of the dog owner? I'm honestly curious. What's the specific scientific name of the coral, and the toxin it products? I want to do some personal research.

 

[reefrunner69]

Both have already been posted in this thread.

 

[bound_for_obx]

ReefRunner said...

Zoos contain palytoxin (as do all palythoa and protopalythoa sp) which is a very deadly neurotoxin. It is leathal to humans @ 4 micrograms.

Do a search for palytoxin and you'll get quite a few hits that go into more detail on how to protect yourself.

I did a search and thats how I found the info @ Reef Central

 

[schoeplein]

Here you go guys:

http://www.cbwinfo.com/Biological/Toxins/Palytoxin.html

Source
Palytoxin was first isolated from the soft coral Palythoa toxica. Several species of Palythoa are used in aquariums, but do not produce the toxin. Originally, it was only found in a single tidal pool on the island of Maui in Hawaii and native Hawaiians used to coat spear points with a red seaweed from the pool. Toxin-containing corals appear to be randomly and sparingly distributed throughout the South Pacific and there is now a school of thought that suggests that the coral is simply concentrating the toxin made by a dinoflagellate (a small single-celled organism) called Ostreopis siamensis.

Agent Properties
Palytoxin is the most toxic natural product known, it is estimated that the lethal dose for a human is less than five micrograms. Supplies are extremely limited as it is only found at low concentrations in the corals that do contain it, although this may change if a microbial source is found.


....thought I'd also add, that being poisoned by this stuff sounds horribly terrible!

 

[reefrunner69]

I suppose the dog died of....

 

[schoeplein]

I suppose the dog died of....

....not to say that the toxic ones aren't in the trade, just that it will typically be very rare. Also as the source said, it is possible that a microbial may be responsible for the toxin, and as such you would need to have an "infected" coral. And from the sounds of it, a person going to an aquarium show to display his aquarium I would hope would know more than most about these things and as such probably knew what he was handling. I'm only trying to point out that this one case was a freak accident... :?

 

[bound_for_obx]

Here is the link to the thread at RC...
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=158663