HPU researchers work to fight dangerous fish toxin
HONOLULU (KHON2) — Undergraduate students and faculty researchers from Hawaiʻi Pacific University and conducting important new research aimed at reducing incidents of a serious illness that can occur from eating reef fish and other contaminated sea creatures.
The illness is known as ciguatera poisoning, or CP, and is often underreported, HPU said.
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The research is being spearheaded by Associate Professor of Marine Science Matthew Iacchei, Ph.D., who is the Principal Investigator on the topic. He is working in collaboration with chemistry professor F. David Horgen, Ph.D., as they oversee and work closely with a team of five undergraduate student researchers.
The research is based out of HPU's Downtown Science Laboratories, where researchers like recent graduate Valentina Salgado Montanez and current student Kaylee Tanig study the microscopic marine organism that poses serious risk to humans. Together, they lead the toxin analysis within the lab.
'These fish are very important food sources for local communities. We're trying to understand what drives the presence of these toxins in the environment,' Iacchei said.Iacchei also said that once the toxin is further understood, the team could possibly create a monitoring system that would be able to alert the local community when the risk of their food being contaminated is elevated.
The research team is currently focused on a type of toxic species that live on algae in Hawaiʻi's waters called Gambierdiscus spp. According to HPU, when herbivorous reef fish consume the algae, the toxins accumulate in their flesh, which can sometimes be dangerously high. The toxins are then passed up through the food chain, eventually reaching humans.
A human who consumes the contaminated fish may experience an array of symptoms, such as nausea or even neurological effects and chronic, months-long fatigue.
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'There's no taste, no smell and no way to cook the toxin out,' Horgen said. 'And we expect the problem may worsen as ocean temperatures rise and the distribution of the toxic organisms expand.'
The poisoning is most commonly found in reef predators, but it has recently been detected in reef herbivores, including fish that are common catches and meals in the islands.
Fish that have been detected with the toxin include uku, ʻomilu, kaku, knifejaws and more.
Thanks to a $50,000 grant from the IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence, the HPU team is collecting samples from Oʻahu's coast to further their knowledge.
The research team hopes to eventually be able to secure additional funding for their work, which would allow them to develop a rapid test to detect the toxin and fish and to maybe even establish a research center focused on marine toxins and community health.
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