ARTISTS OF THE REEF
- Jun 25, 2020
- 4 min read
WHITE SPOTTED PUFFERFISH CLASSIFICATION
Kingdom:Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Tetraodontiformes Family: Tetraodontidae Genus: Arothron Species:A. hispidus
The puffer fish, also called blowfish, swellfish, globefish, balloonfish, bubblefish are fish making up the family Tetraodontidae, within the order Tetraodontiformes.
The puffer fish is not your ordinary type of fish. Why so? The male puffer fish are known as the greatest artists of the animal kingdom.
Leave alone great visual artist like Michelangelo, Picasso and Leonardo Da Vinci. Am sure they never made their art underwater using only sand and their fins. More into that later.
The appearance
White spotted pufferfish have no scales or lateral line and have a set of protruding nostrils on the snout. The background color is a light grey brown color and some specimens have darker brown blotches on them. The body has white dots across is and a broken white ring around the eye. The lower body and underside is paler going to white. The pectoral fin is ringed with a black circle which is usually edged with a single yellow or white line, but sometimes the line is double. The fins are usually translucent with the white dots extending onto the beginning of the caudal fin. They have no pelvic fins. They have the ability to move their eyes independently and have good vision.
Where they are found
Its distribution extends through the Indo-Pacific area, Red Sea included, to the eastern Pacific Ocean. It can be found at depths of three to 35 metres. Its habitat types include reefs, lagoons, estuaries, and tidepools. They can be seen in greater numbers around areas containing rubble and the juveniles are usually found in mixed rubble grassy areas.
Diet
They use their impressive looking teeth to feed on benthic invertebrates, sponges, algae’s, tunicates, tube worms, zoanthids, crustaceans and some corals. They have four teeth which are fused into a beak and the teeth continue growing throughout their life. They often blow water at the sand to expose potential prey and seem to have a sense which assists them in locating prey.
Some aquarists keep them but because of their constantly growing teeth, they require regular feeds on hard stony corals to prevent the teeth from growing too far and becoming unusable. They are not aggressive fish, but may attempt to eat smaller sickly fishes and may nip long finned fishes. Because of their potential size they require a large tank. They will also eat most invertebrates ranging from coral to crustaceans and are not suitable for reef tanks.
Behaviour
White spotted pufferfish are regularly seen swimming just above the reef and are very rarely seen swimming in open water, although this does happen occasionally.
If a diver nears them, they will usually duck into a hole and are hard to approach too closely. They will usually swim off at a slight angle allowing one of their eyes to point backwards to watch you.
Just in case the puffer fish can’t swim away or hide in time, it has one more trick up its sleeve. They are actually named for their ability to inflate themselves to several times their normal size by swallowing water or air when threatened. Their stomachs and skin are highly elastic; the same adaptation is found in the closely related porcupinefish, which have large conspicuous spines (unlike the small, almost sandpaper-like spines of puffer fish).
That’s not all.
Puffer fish are known to have a bacteria called Tetrodotoxin which they accumulate in their bodies via their diet. Tetrodotoxin, a chemical present in the pufferfish, is a powerful neurotoxin that can cause death in nearly 60% of the humans that ingest it. Pufferfish cannot produce tetrodotoxin in isolation. Current research points toward the toxin being accumulated through the food chain, further supported by research which indicates that they are detoxified when fed nontoxic food.
A human only has to ingest a few milligrams for a fatal reaction to the toxin to occur.
The eyes and internal organs of most puffer fish are highly toxic. Further, the ovaries and liver tend to contain the highest concentrations of tetrodotoxin, followed by the skin and intestines, but nevertheless the meat is considered a delicacy in Japan and Korea.
In Japan for instance they are eaten as a delicacy. A “‘Fugu” Chef undergoes three years of training and the whole process is controlled by law in Japan. If the chef makes a mistake it could easily be your last meal which appears to be the attraction for some.
Perfect artistry
The ability of the male puffer fish to construct sand art on the ocean floor is the most amazing fact about the marine creatures. It is truly the Picasso of the ocean. The male works for 24 hours for a whole week constructing the most impressive visual art. All this to impress a female who if impressed will lay eggs in the middle of the sand art which will be fertilized by the male.
The amazing art cant even be described in words. Watch the video below and see how they do it.
Big thank you to @Devon for requesting something on the puffer fish.
Stay tuned for the upcoming series speed stars of the planet, coming soon.
Watch the preview below.
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