Fugu — フグ

The Fugu (puffer fish; フグ; Takifugu species) is perhaps Japan's most famous and most dangerous fish — its organs containing tetrodotoxin, a potent neurotoxin, yet its flesh prized as a delicacy prepared only by specially licensed chefs. Bakufu's rendering of the fugu in his fish compendium captures its distinctive inflated, spiny body with the care it demands as both biological specimen and cultural icon. The species' danger and desirability make it one of the most symbolically charged fish in Japanese culinary culture.