The tragic death of a young Virac man late last month after a meal that included butete serves as a sobering reminder of the dangers that lie beneath the seas around Catanduanes.
The victim was Ely Agunday Teruel, 32. He died Jan. 27 in Eastern Bicol Medical Center after a meal of pufferfish, locally known as butete. (Catanduanes Tribune, Jan. 31, 2025.)
In general, as many as 50 people worldwide die annually from eating improperly prepared pufferfish and a related species, porcupinefish.
There are at least two species of butete around Catanduanes – Lagocephalus lagocephalus and Lagocephalus lunaris. The Philippine government banned both for consumption some 20 years ago.
Worldwide, there are 24 species across nine genera.
“Lagocephalus” is Greek for “rabbit head” because, from a certain angle, the head resembles the head of a rabbit.
“Botete” is Spanish for “pufferfish”. They are noteworthy for their ability to puff themselves up with water.
Out of water, pufferfish can inflate themselves with air as well as water, but this can prove fatal because they cannot expel air easily, causing them to float uncontrollably on the surface.
Aside from these two species around Catanduanes, there are more than 190 other species of pufferfish worldwide.
Pufferfish belong to the family Tetraodontidae, so-called because they have four fused teeth – “tetra” meaning “four” in Greek and “odont” meaning “tooth’ – that they use to break open the hard shells of their favorite prey – snails, clams and crabs.
There are two fused teeth in the upper jaw and two fused teeth in the lower one, and there is a distinctive midline seam dividing each dental plate into right and left halves.
A related family of fishes is the porcupinefish, which also can inflate themselves They are in the family Diodontidae – “dio” is Greek for “two”- so-called because each jaw has a single tooth. Together the two teeth form a kind of beak, which, like pufferfish, they use to break open the shells of crustaceans.
There are about 18 species of porcupinefish.
In some countries, porcupinefish are known as blowfish.
Porcupinefish have large spines, while pufferfish have small spines that are not clearly visible when the fish is not inflated.
Both families belong to the order Tetraodontiformes, which includes other fishes known for their distinctive tooth structures.
Like pufferfish, porcupinefish also are poisonous and can rapidly suck in water or air to expand their bodies.
From a taxonomic point of view, in addition to their distinctive tooth structures, these two families are known for their lack of a rib cage, which allows them to inflate their stomachs,
They also have no pelvic fins.
Both families of fish inhabit coral reefs due to the abundance of crustaceans there.
Pufferfish and porcupinefish are commonplace in the warm tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific Region, especially Indonesia, the Philippines and southern Japan.
A pufferfish in Japan known locally as fugu has been consumed as a culinary delicacy for more than 2,300 years, beginning in the Jomon Period, famous for its heavy clay pottery.
Most Japanese fugu comes from ocean fish farms in Southern Japan, particularly Yamaguchi Prefecture, but self-preparation is strictly forbidden by the Japanese government.
Japanese connoisseurs can eat fugu only in restaurants, where the most popular species is the tiger pufferfish, known locally as “torafugu”.
Torafugu are bigger and fleshier than the butete found around Catanduanes.
Since 1958, only licensed chefs have been allowed to prepare and serve fugu in Japan, and the apprenticeship to become a fugu chef takes two to three years. A final examination includes a written test, identification of species, methods of preparation and disposal of remains.
Only about 35 percent of apprentices pass the examination.
Before the introduction of strict regulations for the preparation of fugu in Japan, it is reported that about 100 people died there annually from eating fugu.
Nowadays, deaths in Japan from the consumption of fugu are relatively rare – only about dozen people die per decade from eating fugu in Japan.
A meal with fugu in Japan costs anywhere from ¥20,000 to ¥100,000, equivalent to about PHP7,500-37,500.
Pufferfish are a delicacy also in South Korea and some coastal regions of southern China.
The danger these fish pose is tetrodotoxin, which is a neurotoxin reportedly 1,200 times more powerful than cyanide.
The various species vary in their levels of the neurotoxin, but all are dangerous.
The toxin is found mainly in the liver, skin, intestines and ovaries.
If the fish are frozen or cooked before the innards have been removed, the neurotoxin can spread to the flesh as well.
Tetrodotoxin blocks the body’s ability to send electrical signals from cell-to-cell.
Symptoms include numbness, dizziness, vomiting, and paralysis. In severe cases, death occurs within hours.
There is no antidote.
Pufferfish and porcupinefish are only a few of many creatures that pose a threat to human beings in the waters around Catanduanes.
Bryce McIntyre, PhD, resides in San Andres. He holds a doctoral degree from Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA