Porcupinefish
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The Porcupinefish is a fish of the family Diodontidae (order Tetraodontiformes). The Porcupinefish is also commonly called blowfish (and, sometimes, "balloonfish" or "globefish").
They are sometimes confused with Pufferfish by people, even though they are not. The porcupinefish is closely related to the pufferfish but the porcupinefish has spines on its body.
The porcupinefish has the ability to inflate its body by swallowing water (or air) and become round like a ball. This increase in size (almost double vertically) reduces the range of potential predators to those with much bigger mouths. A second defense mechanism is provided by the sharp spines, which radiate outwards when the fish is inflated. Some species are poisonous, having a tetrodotoxin in their skin and/or intestines. As a result, the porcupinefish has few predators: adults are rarely eaten except by sharks and orcas, though juveniles are also preyed on by tuna and dolphins.
Pufferfish are found in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and from Florida to Brazil.
Most puffers, including the Blowfish, contain the poison “tetrodotoxin” stored in the liver and reproductive organs. In Japan, the pufferfish is eaten but the chef must prepare the fish carefully or poisoning of the customer can result.
See also
References
- "[Balloonfish]". Florida Museum of Natural History. Casey Patton. Accessed on June 24, 2005.
- ["Diodontidae"]. FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. May 2005 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2005.
- "[Diodon holocanthus]". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. May 2005 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2005.
- [Diodontidae (TSN 173382)]. Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 24 June 2005.
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