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FISH FACTS |
Description
The Blackspotted Pufferfish is variable in color, often grey to brown above with paler underside. Some fish are yellow. All colours have irregular black spots scattered over the body. The rounded body is covered with prickles. The snout shape resembles a seal. The mouth is like a beak with teeth fused together into plates. The tail often has a whitish rear margin.
Size
length to 25cm
Habitat
coastal reefs, outer reef crest and slopes in waters from 3m to 25m deep.
Food
Feeds on corals (usually Acropora), crustaceans, molluscs, sponges, algae
Range
The Blackspotted Pufferfish is found throughout the Indo-Pacific region. In Australia it is found from north-western Western Australia, around Northern Territory, Queensland and south to the central coast of New South Wales.
Notes
Contains a potentially lethal poison (tetrodotoxin) in the skin and organs.
Classification
| Class: | Actinopterygii | | Order: | Tetraodontiformes | | Family: | Tetraodontidae | | Genus: | Arothron | | Species: | nigropunctatus | | Common Name: | Blackspotted Pufferfish |
Relatives in same Genus
Stars and Stripes Toadfish (A. hispidus)
Narrow-lined Pufferfish (A. manilensis)
Map Pufferfish (A. mappa)
Starry Pufferfish (A. stellatus)
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