Comparison of paralytic toxins in aquaculture of purple clam in Taiwan.

Food poisoning incidents due to ingesting the cultured purple clam Soletellina diphos occurred in western Taiwan in February 1991. Clam specimens, sediment and the dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamarensis were collected and assayed for lethality as paralytic shellfish poison (PSP). The lethality of purple clam, wet sediment and phytoplankton was 1700 mouse units per specimen (MU/specimen), 0.05 MU/g and 3.6 x 10(-5) MU/cell, respectively. The toxins obtained from clam, sediment and phytoplankton consisted of gonyautoxins 1-4, along with trace amounts of neosaxitoxin.