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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
pufferfish, porcupinefish, puffers |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Osteichthyes |
| ORDER: |
Tetraodontiformes |
| FAMILY: |
Tetraodontidae
(puffers), Diodontidae (porcupinefish) |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
No
data |
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| DESCRIPTION: |
Tetraodontiformes
have bodies that are very rounded and often tapered
at the mouth and caudal (tail) fin regions. Color
varies, but many species have light spots and or
spines. These fishes common names reference their
ability to inflate their bodies with air or water. |
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| SIZE: |
Up
to a maximum of 90 cm (35.4 in.) |
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| DIET: |
Feeds
mainly on mollusks (hard, powerful teeth enable
them to break through mollusk shells); also fed
on other invertebrates including sponges and coral |
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| INCUBATION: |
Oviparous
(egg laying) |
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| RANGE: |
Tropical
and subtropical oceans worldwide; some puffers are
found in brackish or fresh water |
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| HABITAT: |
Ranges
from oceanic to near shore/coastal to inshore; many
species also found in shallow water |
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| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
No
data |
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| STATUS: |
IUCN |
Several species listed as Data Deficient; 1 species
as Vulnerable |
| CITES |
Not
listed |
| USFWS |
Not
listed |
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| 1. |
The
order Tetraodontiformes (Latin for "four teeth")
is a group of more than 300 fish species that includes
sunfishes, spike fishes, leatherjackets, boxfishes,
puffers, and porcupinefishes. As the Latin translation
suggests, most of these fish have four teeth fused
into their jaws. Exceptions include three tooth
puffers (Triodon macropterus), as well as
porcupinefishes and sunfishes, which have two fused
teeth. |
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| 2. |
Members of the puffer family are not entirely covered
with scales. If alarmed, they can inflate themselves
with water or air and balloon up to three times
their normal size. This "puffing" ploy
is used only in desperation, as the inflated puffer
loses most of its maneuverability. A puffer would
prefer to escape predators by swimming into a crevice. |
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| 3. |
Porcupinefish can also inflate their bodies with
water or air, but these fishes are also armed with
well-developed spines from head to tail. These spines,
which can be up to 5 cm (2 in.) long, make the porcupine
fish even more difficult to attack. |
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| 4. |
For
more information about bony fishes, explore the
bony
fishes info book. |
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Many
of these fishes are highly toxic and deadly if
eaten; yet some of the most dangerous species
are considered a delicacy in Asian countries.
Puffers are served in restaurants as fugu. The
fugu chef must be careful to remove all of the
poison sacs from the fish or the person eating
the meal could die. Species that are highly prized
as fugu include the grass puffer (Takifugu
niphobles), the panther puffer (T. paradalis),
and the black-backed puffer (T. stictonotus).
South
Sea islanders once used the spiked skins of porcupinefishes
as helmets.
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| Burgess,
W. and H.R. Axelrod. Pacific Marine Fishes. Book
1. Neptune City, NJ. T.F.H. Publications, Inc.
Ltd. 1971. |
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Eschmeyer, W.N., Herald, E.S. and H. Hammann. Peterson
Field Guide to Pacific Coast Fishes. New York.
Houghton Mifflin Co. 1983. |
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http://www.fishbase.org/
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