TTX-Bearing Planocerid Flatworm (Platyhelminthes: Acotylea) in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan.

ABSTRACT: Polyclad flatworms comprise a highly diverse and cosmopolitan group of marine turbellarians. Although some species of the genera Planocera and Stylochoplana are known to be tetrodotoxin (TTX)-bearing, there are few new reports. In this study, planocerid-like flatworm specimens were found in the sea bottom off the waters around the Ryukyu Islands, Japan. The bodies were translucent with brown reticulate mottle, contained two conical tentacles with eye spots clustered at the base, and had a slightly frilled-body margin. Each specimen was subjected to TTX extraction followed by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry analysis. Mass chromatograms were found to be identical to those of the TTX standards. The TTX amounts in the two flatworm specimens were calculated to

SUBMITTER: Ueda H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5793085 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature