Population Variation of Spanish Mackerel (<i>Scomberomorus niphonius</i>) according to Its Major Prey Abundance in Southern and Eastern 
Coastal Waters of Korea

ABSTRACT An incident of foodborne poisoning causing illness in seven victims due to ingestion of fried Japanese Spanish mackerel (JS mackerel; Scomberomorus niphonius) meat occurred in September 2014 in Hualien County, eastern Taiwan. Of the two suspected fish meats, one raw sample contained 3,318 ppm of histamine and one fried sample contained 1,906 ppm of histamine, levels which are greater than the potential hazard action level (500 ppm) in most illness cases. Given the allergy-like symptoms of the victims and the high histamine content in the suspected fish samples, this foodborne poisoning was strongly suspected to be caused by histamine intoxication. In addition, five histamine-producing bacterial strains isolated from suspected raw fish samples, capable of producing 152 to 1,020 ppm of histamine in Trypticase soy broth supplemented with 1.0% l-histidine, were identified as Hafnia alvei (one strain), Enterobacter aerogenes (two strains), Raoultella ornithinolytica (one strain), and Morganella morganii (one strain) by 16S rDNA sequencing with PCR amplification. Moreover, 12 raw fish samples and 39 fried fish samples from retail stores were collected and tested to determine the occurrence of histamine. Two of 12 commercial raw fish samples (16.7%) had histamine levels greater than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration guideline for decomposition of 50 ppm for scombroid fish or product or a combination of both. To our knowledge, this is the first report in Taiwan to demonstrate that the JS mackerel meat products could cause histamine intoxication.

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larval growth and mortality of japanese spanish mackerel (scomberomorus niphonius) in the central seto inland sea, japan

Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom ◽

10.1017/s0025315405012403 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 85 (5) ◽

pp. 1255-1261 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

jun shoji ◽

tsutomu maehara ◽

m. tanaka

Keyword(s):

Fish Larvae ◽

Larval Mortality ◽

Larval Growth ◽

Survival Strategies ◽

Seto Inland Sea ◽

Larval Feeding ◽

Spanish Mackerel ◽

Daily Increments ◽

Absolute Growth ◽

Scomberomorus Niphonius

growth and mortality rates of larval japanese spanish mackerel (scomberomorus niphonius) were estimated by using otolith daily increments in 1997 and 1998 in the sea of hiuchi, central seto inland sea. there was no day–night difference in the abundance and size-distribution of s. niphonius larvae in the 3–10 mm size-classes, indicating the larvae were efficiently collected by the larva-net used for sampling (1.3 m mouth diameter, 0.5 mm mesh). mean absolute growth rate (0.748 mm d−1 in 1997, 0.821 mm d−1 in 1998), weight specific growth coefficient (g: 0.402 in 1997, 0.444 in 1998) and mortality coefficient (m: 0.784 in 1997 and 0.625 in 1998) were among the highest reported for marine fish larvae. scomberomorus niphonius seems to have evolved survival strategies characterized by fast growth with strong piscivory that can reduce duration of the larval period with the high mortality. in 1997, spatial distribution of the larvae was not well corresponded to that of their prey, clupeid larvae, and the larval feeding incidence was lower than in 1998. recruitment potential assessed by examining the ratio of g:m was lower in 1997 (0.513 in 1997, 0.711 in 1998) due to the lower g and higher m values. prey fish availability may be one of the important determinants for the recruitment potential by controlling the larval mortality due to starvation and/or starvation-related predation.

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