An unusually big tiger puffer fish, weighing 6.1 kg, was caught Monday in the Seto Inland Sea, Yamaguchi Prefecture's fisheries research center said Wednesday.
The 66-cm "tora" fugu was caught in a fishing net around 500 meters off the coast of Sanyo-Onoda, Yamaguchi Prefecture. The female had been released into the sea about 10 years ago.
The puffer fish had around 3 million eggs in her belly, which measured 22 cm wide and was the thickest part of her body. Its edible parts weighed around 3 kg and could feed over 30 people if served as sashimi, the research center said.
A researcher at the center said the fish may be one of the largest of its kind farmed and released into the sea.
Fugu have been a Japanese delicacy for centuries, and tora-fugu is considered the best .The ovaries and liver of tora fugu contain a powerful neurotoxin, and only licensed chefs are allowed to prepare the fish.
