Well, Pufferfish and Porcupinefish do contain anhydrotetrodotoxin 4-epitetrodotoxin, or tetrodotoxin, which interferes with the nervous system, blocking action potentials. Symptoms include increasing numbness, then various types of pain - headache, vomiting, etc. Increasing paralysis, difficulty with oxygen intake, all the symptoms of oxygen shortage (difficulty breathing, blue skin, headache, etc.), possible heart problems. The worst part is, the people are often fully lucid during most of this.

My pseudonym, however, is not a reference to that, but rather to OpenBSD, an operating system, and the Blowfish encryption algorithm. : )

OpenBSD has cartoons: http://www.openbsd.org/art/ramblo.jpg http://www.openbsd.org/art/sublow.jpg http://undeadly.org/images/logo.jpg

However, like Pufferfish and Porcupinefish, I would prefer not to be eaten.

Armed Blowfish

On 11/08/07, Daniel R. Tobias dan@tobias.name wrote:

I've been watching old episodes of "Columbo" on DVD lately, and I got to one that involved the Japanese delicacy "Fugu", a type of blowfish that is deadly poison if prepared incorrectly. Is that what's known as an "armed blowfish"?

-- == Dan == Dan's Mail Format Site: http://mailformat.dan.info/ Dan's Web Tips: http://webtips.dan.info/ Dan's Domain Site: http://domains.dan.info/

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