The Collaborative International Dictionary
Puffer \Puff"er\, n.
One who puffs; one who praises with noisy or extravagant commendation.
One who is employed by the owner or seller of goods sold at suction to bid up the price; a by-bidder.
--Bouvier.-
(Zo["o]l.)
Any plectognath fish which inflates its body, as the species of Tetrodon and Diodon of the family Tetraodontidae; -- called also blower, puff-fish, swellfish, and globefish. They are highly poisonous due to the presence of glands containing a potent toxin, tetrodotoxin. Nevertheless they are eaten as a delicacy in Japan, being prepared by specially licensed chefs who remove the poison glands.
The common, or harbor, porpoise.
(Dyeing) A kier.
Toxin \Tox"in\, Toxine \Tox"ine\, n. [Gr. toxiko`n. See Toxic. ] A poisonous product formed by an organism, such as a pathogenic bacterium, a plant or an animal, usually having a high molecular weight, often a protein or a polysaccharide, but occasionally a low-molecular weight agent such as tetrodotoxin.
blowfish \blow"fish\ n.
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a fish eaten as a delicacy, especially in Japan. It is highly dangerous because of a potent nerve poison (tetrodotoxin) in its ovaries and liver. Chefs require special training to learn how to remove the poisonous parts, and in Japan they must be licensed.
Note: In Japan it is called fugu. Deaths due to ingestion of the meat of this fish occur almost every year.
Syn: sea squab, puffer, puffer fish.
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any of numerous marine fishes of the family Tetraodontidae whose elongated spiny body can inflate itself with water or air to form a globe; several species contain tetrodotoxin, a potent nerve poison; they are closely related to spiny puffers.
Syn: puffer, globefish.
Wiktionary
n. (context neurotoxin English) A neurotoxin found in Tetraodontiformes such as pufferfish.
Wikipedia
Tetrodotoxin, frequently abbreviated as TTX, is a potent neurotoxin. Its name derives from Tetraodontiformes, an order that includes pufferfish, porcupinefish, ocean sunfish, and triggerfish; several species that carry the toxin. Although tetrodotoxin was discovered in these fish and found in several other aquatic animals (e.g., in blue-ringed octopuses, rough-skinned newts, and moon snails), it is actually produced by certain infecting or symbiotic bacteria like Pseudoalteromonas, Pseudomonas, and Vibrio as well as other species found in the animals.
Tetrodotoxin inhibits the firing of action potentials in nerves by binding to the voltage-gated sodium channels in nerve cell membranes and blocking the passage of sodium ions (responsible for the rising phase of an action potential) into the nerve cell.
Its mechanism of action, selective blocking of the sodium channel, was shown definitively in 1964 by Toshio Narahashi and John W. Moore at Duke University, using the sucrose gap voltage clamp technique.
Usage examples of "tetrodotoxin".
The unique heterocyclic structure of the tetrodotoxin molecule is selective for the sodium channels.
It was used in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, and it had been shown to reverse tetrodotoxin toxicity in some animal experiments.
A horse in his care subsequently died suddenly without apparent cause, consistent with tetrodotoxin poisoning.
Kenny McClure had ordered tetrodotoxin in order to pass it to the iniquitous Mackintosh, who everlastingly played cards with Carey.
The same way a maraschino cherry laced with tetrodotoxin could be hidden among other, innocent, maraschino cherries, a loa, assuming the shape of a young woman in a wet T-shirt, could hide among other young women in wet T-shirts.
The first two syringes contained neostigmine and edrophonium, both of which were used to restore muscular strength in victims of intoxication by tetrodotoxin.
But if you know what you're looking for, like tetrodotoxin, say, because the deceased dropped dead at a sushi party, then there are some monoclonal antibodies tagged with either fluorescein or a radioactive marker that can pick the stuff up.