Table 1.

Main features of palytoxin (PLTX), ciguatoxin (CTX), cyclic imines (CIs) and tetrodotoxin (TTX).

Toxin	Principal Derivatives	Producer Organism	Vectors	Syndromes and Effects in Humans	Endemic Areas
PLTX	Palytoxins	Palythoa	Fish, Molluscs, Crustaceans, Echinoderms	Clupeotoxism Rhabdomyolisis Respiratory illness Skin illness Skeletal muscle injury Digestive distress Cardiac distress	Australia, New Zealand, French Polynesia, Cook Islands, Japan, Indonesia, Micronesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Singapore, Hawaii, Caribbean, Mexico, Brazil, Madagascar, Reunion Island, Mediterranean coastline of Europe
	Putative PLTX Ovatoxins	Ostreopsis cf. ovata
	Ostreotoxins	Ostreopsis lenticularis
	Mascarenotoxins	Ostreopsis mascarenensis
CTX	Ciguatoxins Gambiertoxins Maitotoxins	Gambierdiscus sp.	Fish	Gastrointestinal effects Neurological effects Cardiovascular effects	French Polynesia, Cook Islands, Hawaii, Japan, Mexico, Tokelau, North Marianna, Tuvalu, Marshall Islands, Fiji, New Caledonia, Tonga, Vanuatu, Samoa, Kiribati, Australia, Micronesia Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia, Madagascar, Reunion Island, Maldive Islands, Gulf of Mexico, Guadeloupe, Florida, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Canary Islands, Madeira
CIs	Gymnodimines	Gymnondinium selliformis	Shellfish	Not reported	Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Italy, Tunisia
	Spirolids	Alexandrium ostenfeldii
	Pinnatoxins	Vulcanodinium sp.
	Pteriatoxins	unknown
	Prorocentrolides	Prorocentrum sp.
TTX	Tetrodotoxins	Vibrio sp. Pseudomonas sp. Alteromonas sp.	Pufferfish, Starfish, Blue-ring Octopus, Xanthid Crabs, Gastropods, Flatworm, Frogs, Goby, Newt Taricha	Ichthyosarcotoxism Numbness Respiratory paralysis Gastrointestinal effects	Japan, China, Taiwan, Madagascar, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, India, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Viriginia, Chicago, California, Hawai, Bangladesh, Thailand, Norway, Meditaerranian region (Israel, Egypt and Greece), Spain (fish caught in Portugal)