tetrodotoxin

Image from www.pufferfish.net It should be noted that the theory of dolphins getting "high" off puffer fish is highly controversial as others have mentioned that tetrodotoxin, the neurotoxin released from puffer fish, is famous for causing paralysis making it more of a poison as opposed to a good time. It is reportedly more potent than cyanide. In fact, a study published in 1990 reported tetrodotoxin as the cause of death of two Atlantic dolphins found dead in a lagoon (Hokama et al., J Clin Lab Anim. 1990). So what exactly are those dolphins doing with the puffer fish in the BBC…

The story of evolution is filled with antagonists, be they predators and prey, hosts and parasites, or males and females. These conflicts of interest provide the fuel for 'evolutionary arms races' - cycles of adaptation and counter-adaptation where any advantage gained by one side is rapidly neutralised by a counter-measure from the other. As the Red Queen of Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass said to Alice, "It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place." The Red Queen analogy paints a picture of natural foes, wielding perfectly balanced armaments and caught in a…