Occurrence of tetrodotoxin as the major toxin in a xanthid crab Atergatis floridus.

The toxins of a xanthid crab Atergatis floridus from Miura Peninsula were purified by a method which consisted of activated charcoal treatment, and chromatography on Amberlite IRC-50, Bio-Gel P-2 and Bio-Rex 70 columns. In the Bio-Rex 70 column chromatography, the major toxin equivalent to about 90% of the total toxicity was eluted with 0-0.03 N acetic acid, whereas the minor toxin, with 0.03-1 N acetic acid. The major toxin showed a single spot in TLC and electrophoreis, whose Rf and Rm values coincided well with those of tetrodotoxin run for reference. Furthermore, the major toxin agreed well with tetrodotoxin in NMR spectrum. From these results, the major toxin was identified as tetrodotoxin. On the other hand, the minor toxin was demonstrated to consist of saxitoxin and some unidentified toxic components.