Amazing Fact about Puffer Fish

General description

There are as many as 120 species of puffer fish that live mostly in tropical  and subtropical ocean waters, but some species live in brackish and even fresh water. All belongs to the order tetraodontiformes. The puffer fish live primarily at depths ranging from 18 to 100 meters. It is also a reef inhabitant, lives near the coral area.

Puffer fish also called blow fish, toad fish, swell fish, fugu, ikan buntal and baloon fish. They are named baloon fish after their habit of inflating themselves with water or air when threatened, making it difficult for predator to swallow them. 

Puffer fish is an agressive fish. Puffer fish can attack any other fish they consider enemy. Puffer fish hunt by attack and bite the prey. If the prey is larger, the puffer fish kill the prey first and then eat the prey gradually till it end.

Puffer fish more a carnivore than omnivore animal where the diet was composed mainly cephalopods (squid and cuttlefish), crustaceans (particularly crabs), fish, shrimp, and other vertebrates. 

Appearence

Puffer fish have long, tapered bodies with bulbous and colors to advertise their toxicity, while others have more muted or cryptic coloring to blend in with their environment. Puffer fish do not have scales. Their skin is thick and rough. 

Puffer fish have four large teeth (two on the upper jaw and two in lower jaw). Fuse together forming a strong beak-like structure. Makes puffer fish mouth so strong it can crush shell of moluscas, snail, sea urchin, crab and other vertebrates as their main food source.

Puffer fish can quickly inflating (puff up) their body whenever they feel threathened by predator or have stimulation that disturb them. 

Puffer fish can have spine. Some puffer fish species have spines on the skin, These spines usually lies flat on the side of the fish. When the fish puff up, the skin gets hard and the spine stick out in all directions. Tetrodotoxin (TTX) toxin can also be distributed into the skin. 

These adaptations (puff up, spine and TTX toxin) are their way to prevent the predator from trying to eat them. Puffer fish predator include sea snake, shark (specially tiger shark), and human.

The puffer fish vary in size, usually small to medium in size 2 – 35 cm (1 – 14 inch) although some species might have 100 cm (39 inch) in lenght. Average lifespan of the puffer fish is around 10 years.

Because of the unique and distinctive characteristics, people sometimes keep the puffer fish in aquarium as ornament fish and considering the agressive behavior, they usually put in group together with their own species. 

How the puffer fish puff up (inflate) ?

When there is a predator, puffer fish can inflate their body in a few seconds. The puffer fishs swallow a lot of water or air into its stomach (they have highly elastic stomach). Filled with water or air, its stomach becomes bigger. Other body parts inside the puffer fish are pushed to the side to make the room.

Watch the puffer fish puff up (inflate) in this video :

This puff up turn puffer fish into virtually inedible ball 2 – 3 times their normal size. Then only the bigger animals can eat it. The inflating can last up to 2 hour.

Tetrodotoxin (TTX)

Pupper fish has potent neurotoxin called Tetrodotoxin (TTX). TTX is known a non - protein organic compound and one of the strongest marine paralytic toxins today. TTX can be found in the liver, gonads, intestines, and skin of this fish and can cause death in approximately 60% of persons who ingest it (Ellenhorn and Barceloux, 1988). The flesh and testicle are organ with less toxin and weak toxicity except the species of lagochephalus lunaris and chelonodon patoca. 

Puffer fish usually use it as biological defensive mechanism againts predatory attack.

Level of toxicity of puffer fish varies according to the type of organ, geography, season, and sexes.  TTX level on female puffer fish is higher than on male puffer fish. That is because TTX level is higher on ovarium than found in testicle. 

Although the toxin is very dangerous, TTX can be used in pharmacheutical field. TTX can be used as a local anesthetic drug (can block neural). Tetrodotoxin combine with bupicavaine and dexamethasone can increase the anesthetic time. The first medicine marketed based on tetrodotoxin is tectin. This medicine is developed by WEX pharmacheutical inc. In small doze, this medicine is effective to reduce the chronical pain of a cancer patient. 

If cleaned and dressed properly, the puffer fish flesh or musculature is edible and considered a delicacy by some japanese.

How the puffer fish gets neurotoxin (TTX) in its body ?

TTX is originally produced by marine bacteria and distributes over a wide variety of aquatic animals. For example puffer fish, the blue-ringed octopus Hapalochlen moculosa, the carnivorous gastropod Charonia sauliae, starfish of genus Astropeten, xanthid crabs, the horseshoe crab Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda. 

The TTX of puffer fish is considered tobe not indigenous, but come from toxic food organism via the food chain (i.e. their prey).

The transfer, accumulation, and elimination mechanism of TTX taken up into the puffer fish body via prey remain unclear. Recent studies have revealed that the liver of puffer fish has a specifix TTX uptake mechanism, and TTX introduced into the puffer fish body is first absorbed in the liver and then transferred to the skin throuh the circulatory system.

The main symptomps of human intoxication include numbness of lips, tongue and limbs, vomited, paresthesia, dysarthria, respiratory disstress. Death can occur due to respiratory failure in most critical cases. (Noguchi and Ebesu, 2001)

When a poisoning occur, it is essential to transport the patient immediately to a well equipped hospital. At present, there is no antidote or specific medication for TTX, and no fundamental treatment besides facilitating elimination of the toxin from the body and managing the respiratory or circulatory system using an artificial respiratory.

Reference

Ellenhorn, M.J. and Barceloux, D.G. 1988. Medical toxicology, Diagnosis and treatment of human poisoning. Elsevier Science Publishing Company Inc. New York, 977 pp.

Mehmet Aydın. 2011. Growth, Reproduction and Diet of Pufferfish (Lagocephalus sceleratus

Gmelin, 1789) from Turkey’s Mediterranean Sea Coast. Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 11: 569-576. Central Fisheries Research Institute (CFRI) Trabzon, Turkey in cooperation with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Japan.

Noguchi, T. and J.S.M. Ebesu. 2001. Puffer poisoning: epidemiology and treatment. J. Toxicol.-Toxin

Reviews 20: 1–10.

RLMS Ari Wibowo, dkk. 2016. Eco Leather Penyamakan Ikan Buntal. Cetakan. 1. Yogyakarta: ATK Press, 2016.

Osamu Arakawa, Deng-Fwu Hwang, Shigeto Taniyama and Tomohiro Takatani. 2010. Toxins of Pufferfish That Cause Human Intoxications. Coastal Environmental and Ecosystem Issues of the East China Sea, Eds., A. Ishimatsu and H.-J. Lie, pp. 227–244. TERRAPUB and Nagasaki University,

Piranha : The most dangerous amazonian fish

General description

Piranhas are fresh water, tropical fishes belonging to the family characidae, which also include pacus and tetras. There are many species of piranha, some are Serrasalmus marginatus, Serrasalmus spilopleura, Pygocentrus nattereri (red-bellied piranha)

Piranhas are agressive predators and opportunistic feeders. They have fearsome reputation as the most dangerous amazonian fish. But human regularly swim, bathe and wash clothes in piranha infested water without incident. The reports that piranha going after humans are extremely rare.

Appearance

Piranhas has deep, laterally compressed bodies. They vary in color by location, population and age. But many are silvery gray or golden and some have bright colors such as red or orange on their head, belly or fin.

Figure 1 show the variation of the piranha body forms. piranhas have a thin shape when viewed head on. From the side they appeared broad and round. Ranging from sharp- snouted to blunt-headed, with various degrees of body compression :

General body form (lateral and frontal view) of three species of piranhas from pantanal region, mato grosso. Brazil. (a. Serrasalmus marginatus (ZOEC 1603), b. Serrasalmus spilopleura (ZOEC 1602), c. Pygocentrus nattereri (ZOEC 1580))

Piranhas have short, powerful jaws, and lower jaws that protrude beyond their upperjaws. Both jaws are lined with sharp triangular teeth, which allows piranhas to bite into and tear the flesh of their prey.

Piranhas commonly grow to 12 inches in lenght and weight less that 2 (two) pounds, but have been reported to grow up to 16 inches and weight over 7 pounds.

Habitat preference

Piranhas are native to the central and southern river system of south america (most notably the amazon river), where they inhabit tropical rivers and stream and ofter found in murky water. Usually found in fast moving portion of rivers, piranhas will move to flooded riverside regions to feed and reproduce.

Distribution

South american rivers of colombia, venezuela, guyana, paraguay, brazil and central argentina.

Primary diet

Piranha feed on fish, insect, crustacean, amphibian, mollusk, worm, carrion, alge, and water plant. But they often feed (piranha attack) in large group (20 -30 individual) to kill prey like capybaras. (Omnivore)

Predator

Human, crocodile, caiman and larger fish species (including vampire tetra).

Life span

Piranha can live up to 8 years but red bellied piranha has been seen to live almost 10 years in aquarium setting.

Mating behavior

During mating season, red bellied piranhas will move to regions of slow moving waters. Female will lay up to 5,000 eggs at a time and ready to lay another batch in just a few weeks. Once laid, the male will swim by and fertilize the egg which are sticking to plant and sediment. Hatching periode vary 10 to 15 days, according to water temperature.

During the mating season, the male will guard the eggs and are extremely territorial toward all nearby fish and potential predators (including human). Young will hatch in a few weeks and spend the first few month feeding on insect during the day.

Predatory tactics

There are four main categories of hunting method toward fish prey were observed : lurk or ambush, stealthy approach or stack, approach under disguise, and chase (see figure 4)

Stalking was a frequent mode of hunting employed by both Serrasalmus marginatus and Serrasalmus spilopleura. The slow, stealthy approch within striking distance was usually done from behind or below the prey, which frequently was engaged in feeding (figure 4a)

Lurking was employed by Serrasalmus marginatus and by Pygocentrus nattereri during day time. Both species ambushed from within the abundant aquatic vegetation and dashed after passing prey mainly from behind. Most of these lunges by Serrasalmus marginatus were aimed at the flank or the rear of the prey and the predator obtained a mouthfull of scales, or more rarely a piece of fin.

Approach under feint was observed for Serrasalmus spilopleura, which lingered  close to the prey without any signal of stealth, behaving as of not interested in it. From time to time they join nearby shoals of small characin and repeatedly bit off the caudal fin of the shoaling fish. Apparently the characin did not recognize the piranhas as predators, as they showed no signals of being alarmed unless actually bitten.

Chasing after small fish was observed mainly for Pygocentrus nattereri preceeded by lying in wait within the vegetation. One individual of Pygocentrus nattereri was seen chasing after a characin or chiclid for about 4 meters before grasping the prey from behind (figure 4b) and cutting it in two. 

Watch here to see the piranhas feeding video :

Piranha facts.

• The bite force of piranha is 3 (three) times its body weight. 
• Piranha swallow their food whole.
• The red bellied piranha will bite when underfed, overcrowded or threatened. They also bite anything that move where blood is present in the water.
• The piranhas teeth are also use as scissors or razor blades by the native tribes.
• Piranhas can replace lost teeth
• Young piranhas have been known to feed on the fin of the other fish, but these fin will heal in just a short time.
• Piranhas help to keep rivers clean by eating injured or dead animals.
• Young piranhas are known as “fry” and a group of piranhas is known as a “shoal”
• The red bellied piranhas is a commonly food fish for local communities and is also caught for use as bait for larger cat fish

References

Ivan Sazima and Fransisco A. Machado. 1990. Underwater observations of piranhas in western brazil. Environmental Biology of Fishes 28: 17-31, Kluwer academic Publishers. Netherland

California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Piranha, Family Characidae. 

How To Peel Hard-Boiled Egg Easily

Hard boiled egg are one of our favourite dish. We have them in our cooking recipe such as fried chilli egg, egg stew or added to our salads. For that, clean and smooth peeled hard-boiled egg is what we looking for. The problem is, sometimes it is difficult it to remove the egg shell smoothly without making dent or scar to the egg surface. But not anymore, now I have simple procedure that make peeling hard boiled egg easy and fun to do.

These are simple steps of peeling hard-boiled eggs. You can easily follow and get consistent result. 

Steps for creating easy to peel hard-boiled eggs :

1. Boiled enough water in a pan so that you can cover the entire egg surface in it. The pan should deep enough to fill with water about one inch above the egg surface. Also make sure that the pan wide enough to fit the whole eggs in one layer. Stacking egg one another is not recommended and can crack the egg shell. This is important. A flimsy pan will not work well. It will conduct uneven heat and make unconsistent cooked eggs.

2. When the water boiling, add about one tablespoon of baking soda. Adding baking soda to water make the cooking water alkaline. The alkaline from using baking soda loosening the bond between the egg whites and the inner membrane of the shell. Thus it will make the eggs easier to peel. 

3. When the water still actively boiling, place egg using ladle or spoonlike tool so that it carefully placed in the base of the pan. Boil the egg approximately 12 minutes. You don’t have to boil at high temperature at the whole time. When the water back to boil, turn the temperature (heat) lower. You can then continue boil eggs with lower heat. That is to avoid splashing and overcooked. The sign of overcooked egg is mostly the greenish tint shown to the york. It is not harmfull to ingest, just not very pretty to look at.

4. After 12 minutes turn off the heat. Remove the pan and drain the boiled water. Wait for 5 minutes to cool down. 

5. Now is time to peel the hard boiled egg. I will show two ways to do it. First by using glass jar and second by using ice water. First. Peel the hard boiled egg using glass jar. Fill ¼ of the glass jar with water, insert hard boiled egg into the jar. Close the cap and shake the egg back and forth until the shell crack evently. Take the egg off the jar and peel the shell by hand. The shell should peel easily. Do these steps again with other eggs. 

Second. Peel the hard boiled egg using ice water. Put the hard boiled egg into a basket of ice water, leave the egg on ice bath for about 10 minutes. After that, take the egg out, crack, roll against cutting board and peel one by one. The shell should peel easily by now. The egg white seperate smoothly from the shell. Egg shells are porous and plunging them into ice water will help seperate the shell and the membrane from the flesh of the eggs.

That it. Done. Enjoy your smoothly peeled hard-boiled eggs.

Note :

• Try to avoid hard boiling any egg that has an obvious hairline crack in it. Because it will most likely to break when egg put into boiling water.
• The easiest way to peel the eggs is to peel immediately after removing them from the ice water. They will still peel nicely a day (or a week) later but the shell will practically fall off if you peel them right after making them.

Watch the video of how to peel hard boiled egg easily here :

We think Peel the hard boiled egg using ice water is the best technique we have ever tried to make easy to peel hard-boiled eggs. It doesn’t matter how old or new the eggs are, the result is consistently good. Cheers.

How to repair gas stove burner flame being too low

This is happen to me before, my gas stove has low flame problem. I called service center to repair the gas stove. When the repair man worked, I watch him clean the stove and pay attention to a particular job that actually solved the low flame burner problem. With that and further information from the internet, I am confident I can do the repair by myself.

The Problem : The burner port or nozzle is clogged

The gas port or nozzle is not delivering gas seamlessly to the burner. The burner port is small hole located in the middle of gas burner base. The low flame problem occur when this hole has been cover by grease or something. This is blocking or clogging the gas flow to the burner. 

The Solution : Clean burner port or nozzle.

You need to clean this grease with something tin, small and strong. To do that you can use straight pin, needle or small gauge wire.

Cleaning Procedure :

Safety first. Turn off the gas flow to the stove. Make sure the gas regulator turn off or you can disconnected it off the gas tank.

Now lets work on the burner. open the cap burner and the spreader. clean the cap and spreader from grease. look for the burner port or nozzle. On standar burner you will likely see the port in the base of the burner (at the center). sometime it is difficult to see the hole because it cover with grease, so look closely it is there.

Use the straight pin, needle or small gauge wire. Put it into the the port or nozzle. Push around gently until the port loosen and free of blocking material or grease. Caution. Do not overdone it. Clean the clogged port only to remove things that block the gas flow. Do not try to enlarge or distort the port or nozzle because this will lead to unstable flame. The size of burner port is vary so you better use the smallest straight pin, needle or small gauge wire to fit all the port size.

Put everything back in. Fit the spreader and cap burner properly at it place. Burner cap and spreader should also fit flush with burner base and have very little side to side movement.

When everything set in place. Turn on or connect the gas regulator again. Turn the ignition on. The flame should now bigger and burn better then before. 

That it . Done

Attention / Caution :

• Do not use a wooden stuff like tooth pick and such because it can break off and felt into the port or nozzle (difficult to remove) and prevent gas flow properly.
• Do not clean the port or nozzle using detergen. Detergen can clog the gas port.
• Again, Do not overdone it. Clean the clogged port only to remove things that block the gas flow. Do not try to enlarge or distort the port or nozzle because this will lead to unstable flame
• Always clean the burner cap after a spill over and routinely clean the burner caps. A clean burner cap will help avoid poor ignition and uneven flame.

Most of the time these simple (Do It Yourself - DIY) steps can solve the low flame gas problem, save the repairment fee and enhance your cooking expirience. cheers.

For video footage on how to fix gas stove burner low flame, you can watch it here :