Paralytic Shellfish Poison in Various Bivalves, Port Moresby, 1973

Abstract

Toxicity studies of various bivalves at Port Moresby were carried out by mouse bioassay. Crassostrea echinata was found to lose paralytic shellfish poison after 3 weeks in a closed seawater system, although toxin is retained for a much longer period in vivo. Four bivalve species tested were as toxic at 10 meters depth as they were at 2 meters. Toxin was not distributed evenly through the tissues of bivalves investigated.