Toxicity of two species of puffer fish, Takifugu porphyreus and Takifugu rubripes, collected from coastal regions of Korea, was determined using a mouse bioassay, In T. porphyreus, the proportion of toxic specimens containing ${ge}$ 10 MU/g was 58.3% for the ovary, 32.6% for the skin, 12.0% for the gallbladder, 11.6% for the liver and intestine, and 9.3% for the fin; no toxicity was detected in the muscle and testis using the mouse bioassay. The highest toxin levels were 531 MU/g in the liver, 253 MU/g in the intestine, 136 MU/g in the gallbladder, 118 MU/g in the skin, 116 MU/g in the ovary, and 108 MU/g in the fin. The skin, which is used for human consumption, showed significantly high toxicity with an average of $11{pm}3;(mean{pm}SE) MU/g$. Takifugu porphyreus toxicity also exhibited remarkable regional variation. In T. rubripes, the proportion of toxic specimens was 25.0% for the ovary, 15.8% for the liver, 11.1% for the gallbladder, and 5.3% for the fin and intestine; no toxicity was detected in the muscle, skin, or testis. Among the organs, the highest toxin levels were 228 MU/g in the ovary, followed by 112 MU/g in the liver, 28 MU/g in the gallbladder, 18 MU/g in the intestine, 11 MU/g in the fin, and 8 MU/g in the skin. Thus, we found acceptable toxin levels in the edible muscle and skin of T. rubripes and in the muscle of T. porphyreus. However, the skin of T. porphyreus, which showed significantly high toxicity, requires special attention when used for human consumption.