::Marine Biologist waves his hand::
Ciguatera isnt toxic to any cold blooded animals. The toxins that are secreted by the flagellates slowly build up over time in their tissues, as they do in warm blooded animals. The problem is that to US they are toxic. This is also why a person that has had ciguatera is prone to get it again as there are permanent background levels of the toxin already in their tissues. As willomy said, its called biomagnification So the chances are that anyone who regularly eats large reef predator fish, already had some background levels of the toxin in them. I know i probably do. Anyhow, the point is the higher up the food chain a predator is the more likely it is to have eaten other predatory fish as well as the coral and algae eaters, which is where fish pick up the dinoflagellate, Gambierdiscus toxicus in particular, in the first place. As far as I am concerned Mr Barracuda and I coexist as top end predators. Probably not smart for either of us to eat the other, and so far old Barry has been respectful of my person. Though not always of my catch...
