The use of mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti) to detect ciguatoxin in surgeon fishes (Ctenochaetus striatus).

A new animal assay to detect ciguatoxin in fishes was developed. Mosquitoes were subjected to intrathoracic injection of serial dilutions of ciguatoxin crude extracts. Toxicity of the fishes was expressed as the mosquito LD50 (g of flesh per mosquito). A significant correlation between the mosquito bioassay and the mouse bioassay performed on the same extracts was shown (r = 0.72, n = 80). We were able to detect 96% of the toxic fishes, while 91% of the fishes non-toxic in mice were also non-toxic in mosquitoes.