I have been doing some reading on this topic. In the keys.... how susceptible are the fish to getting this toxin in their system? My understanding is that you shouldn't eat anything over 5lbs if it is a barracuda (especially) Mackrel, grouper, shark or other predatory reef species.

I am curious as to ya'll's thoughts on the issue.

I am mainly interested in the keys tho.

Anybody here ever had it?

I dont know i have ate plenty of kingfish and spanish macks and never felt sick. I have never had barracuda but some people eat it all the time. I do not personally know anyone who has got cigueterra. Kind of like a myth to me but im sure it is real.

ask Cudaman

MC Cudaman, got ciguatera poisoning from eating ............ a small cuda.

From what I understand it is from fish eating smaller reef fish that eat some plant? So if that is true it shouldn't infect macks because they dont really eat reef fish.

I have only meet a handful of people that have and all have said that they would rather be dead than go through it again.

Yeah thats what i have read. You say that macks dont eat reef fish? Isn't a macks prey the same as a cuda? Maybe a newbie question however i would think that they would eat a lot of the same fish. From what i understand Ciguatera is like you say.... exactly what you dont want to have.

Is there a size range to Ciguatera infected fish? I have read that you want to stay away from anything over a certain lb of fish. I think one article said 5lbs and the other 3lbs.

Ciguatera is caused from a bioaccumulation of a toxin produced by a dinoflagellate called Gambierdiscus toxicus.

It attaches to benthic reef algae and consumed by algae grazers. Anything that consumes those grazes would start to accumulate the toxin and so on up through the food chain.

I do not doubt that mackerel can get it, but are less likely because they prefer to eat pelagic Clupeids and jacks.

Barracuda are most notorious for it because they are generalist predators and consume more reef fishes in the ciguatera pathway.

It tends to be more prevalent in tropical areas (Keys, Caribbean) than the rest of the state although I read a report of cases in the Gulf near to Texas.

Macs generally are not on the list for reasons described above, while larger kingfish ARE - Like cuda's big kings will eat whatever is in their path when hungry....including many of the fish associated with Cig.

So is the general rule to not eat cuda or are specimens of a certain limited size considered safe? This is all from what i have read.

Just don't eat the cudas since they feed on the reef fish that carry the poison. The other fish will have no problems.

Yeah i hear that. I was interested for knowledge as well..... I have done quite a bit of reading on it...... i read that under 5lbs was considered safe.... however i personally wouldn't risk it where i am fishing due to the amount of reef structures in the area.

Personally I lay off big kings too...I have eaten a few smal cuda's but really do not make a practice of it unless it is small and will not survive release.

If it doesn't smell like a Skunk Ape then it is safe to eat.

If you want to eat a cuda, try one that is not caught from a reef (grassflats, inshore channels, etc.)

5 lbs. is what I have heard from cudas, other fish maybe larger. The only other species I have heard mentioned to carry ciguatoxin are amberjacks and cubera snapper. I am sure very large snapper and grouper have some small chance at having it, but there aren't very many of those around anymore.

Then basically you can't eat any from what you are saying. The cudas in deep water also have the poison.



Sorry, but there are members on this forum that has been poison from eating a cuda that less than 5lbs. Larger Snapper and Grouper are acceptable to this poison too.

See thats what i have heard...... Kinda the info that i have been looking for.

So basically stay away from the cuda but not the cooter.

Cudas are fun on light tackle. Channel 5 hold some big cudas.


There are some many great fish to eat I just don't know why people keep wanting to eat cudas. I usually tell people just eat it. The side effect will go away within a few days.

Nice photochop.

I have gotten better with photoshop.

That very same cuda was used for shark bait. Cudaman and his son both got railed by a very large shark.

I am going to try and target some shark on this trip. We'll see what happens.

Make sure you buy some wire. #12 will work for most size shark. Jacks and Cudas make great bait.

I have some fairly thick wire leaders. Dont know the size since it was last year when i got em. If i break off i am not too worried..... if its going to break the wire that i have then i probably shouldn't be messing with it anyway.

I don't understand the idea(s) you are trying to convey here.

Let me clarify. I was speculating that, in theory, a fish not associated with the dinoflagellate would have a little to no chance at carrying ciguatoxin. So a fish from an area where this dinoflagellate does not exist, would not be toxic.

OP. You have a higher risk eating fish in the keys. From what I have read, affected areas occur in hotspots. These hotspots are not always in the same areas and a hotspot one day may not be one later on. Hotspots are contingent upon a number of factors that increase the dinoflagellate population. Eating reef fish in your area would require you to decide what an acceptable risk percentage you are willing to take. Some fish of certain size would increase that risk and others would decrease it.

A peer reviewed article I read stated that the general rule is you have a much less chance at getting the toxin by consuming reef fish less than 3-6 lbs. It was also advised that eating smaller portions is a good idea, "It has also been proposed that eating small portions (i.e. <50 grams or < 0.11 pounds) of different fish is safer than eating larger portions of any individual fish that might be associated with CFP."

I found an at home test kit for ciguatoxin. Google Cigua-check to find out the details.

Yeah those tests take 45min to a hour so i have read..... too long IMO..... Fish can migrate from one area to another fairly quickly.... I have no doubt that a fish in a esturary or channel in the keys is probably contaminated due to a reef being within a 2-5 mile radius. I am sure that cuda's in that area frequent both the reef and the channels depending on the food available. Just my .02 tho.

OK. I retract everything I said. It's OK to eat Cudas. Go ahead and knock your self out. Yummy.