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| Chinaman fish. Saumarez Reef (The Coral Sea) 1964. Was filleted and sold. |
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The risk of contracting ciguatera has been minimized in Queensland. This picture is from the 1990s. Reef fish are no longer permitted to be filleted at sea.
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| Ciguatera found in large Spanish Mackerel will slowly kill a domestic cat over 48 hours. |
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| Large blue spot coral trout, Ribbon Reefs (Cooktown) 1967 |
Predator fish which feed upon smaller fish and occasionally wind-up
becoming toxic for humans with ciguatera poisoning. Ciguatera is
tasteless and without a color and occurs in tropical fish. Usually it
is the big mackerel which are most likely to be contaminated. The
symptoms of poisoning are not too good. Many doctors would not
recognise the problem and may therefore treat you for something else,
especially if you are on holiday in the north and return home sick. If
you eat mackerel and feel ‘crook’ afterwards, tell the doc this
information.
Worse still, the poison can slowly over years, accumulate until it
tips the balance. It can then keep re-occurring if you eat additional
contaminated fish or even chicken that has been fed contaminated
fish-meal pellets! (According to a friend who suspects this happened to
him).
Other fish are on the danger list too. Barracuda, red bass, chinaman
fish are all suspects as is the big blue spot coral trout especially.
Beware any seafood listed vaguely, i.e. “reef fillets” “mixed fillets”.
This is the retailer being ‘shifty’.
Otherwise, grilled Spanish mackerel is one of the most common fish
favourites in many parts of the tropical Pacific. Just watch out for
those very big fish of 15kg or more, especially in southern Queensland
near Hervey Bay. (Text written in 2004)
All fish shown on this page are believed to be ciguatera risk fish.
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| Barracoutta at Cook Island NSW |
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| Blue Spot (Coral trout) |
ABOUT CIGUATERA
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