Why know the puffer fish?
“I am one of the most famous fish in the coral reef! A celebrity in short!”
How to recognize puffer fish
The puffer fish is easily distinguishable within the coral reef watercolor, thanks to its particular characteristics:
It is a rather plump and rounded fish compared to other reef fish.
It can be small, around twenty cm, but some species can reach 70 cm.
It has a very pronounced little mouth with only 4 large, very strong teeth.
The color is very varied: from bright yellow, to black, to gray, with darker streaks to better camouflage on the seabed.
The skin of puffer fish is bare, that is, without scales, but these are replaced by very strong spines that become clearly visible when the puffer fish swells.
Where does the puffer fish live?
There are about 120 species of puffer fish around the world! They have managed to colonize many different environments (both fresh and salt water), like few other families of fish have managed to do.
The most famous species live in tropical seas around the world, in fact their ideal environment is the coral reef, where they can have fun swimming among the corals and resting on the sand!
With the rise in water temperature, the puffer fish has also arrived in the Mediterranean Sea, passing through the Suez Canal. More precisely, we are talking about the spotted puffer fish that unfortunately is creating numerous problems for native fish.
"My presence is not welcome because I am very voracious, opportunistic, and extremely poisonous. Be careful to recognize me!"
What does puffer fish eat?
The puffer fish, as we have said, has 4 strong teeth that it uses to break shells of mollusks and shells of crustaceans, which they are fond of. They are also opportunistic predators, feeding on dying animals, in difficulty or trapped in fishing nets.
Their voracity has a positive note for the corals though: the puffer fish willingly eat a particular starfish that is very dangerous for the coral reef: the crown-of-thorns starfish. Thanks to the presence of these friendly fish, this threat can be kept under control.
The puffer fish's defense weapons
The ability to inflate his stomach
When they feel threatened, pufferfish tend to drink large quantities of water (or air, if necessary), inflating their stomachs to an enormous size and becoming several times larger than normal. When they inflate, their bodies become covered with numerous straight spines, which in their natural state, remain lying on their bare skin. This behavior scares the predator and makes them difficult to swallow.
“We are called puffer fish, but we become a ball only and exclusively when we are scared, for us it is a considerable physical and mental stress that we try to avoid as much as possible”
The very powerful poison
The poison of puffer fish is called tetradotoxin, the name comes from the specific family Tetraodontidae to which they belong. This neurotoxin is 1200 times more powerful than cyanide and is also lethal for humans, about 60% of poisoning cases.
“The poison produced by just one of us can kill up to 30 humans!”
This poison is found on the skin and in some internal organs of the fish such as the liver, intestines and gonads. If the puffer fish were to be eaten by some predator, it would die poisoned.
Therefore, they tend to have no enemies!!!
The effect of the poison
Like many other poisons, tetradoxin is produced by symbiotic bacteria that the puffer fish acquires through the animals it feeds on. The poison acts on the nervous system: paralyzing the muscles and causing death by asphyxiation, within an hour of contact.
It is a poison that does not yet have an antidote.
“In this case, recognizing ourselves becomes extremely important for survival!”
Strange similarities:
That the puffer fish is a very poisonous animal is well known throughout the coral reef! So much so that some crafty people have decided to "dress" like it to go more or less unnoticed! Let's see...
The Valentini puffer fish is the most used model for this purpose: it is a small reef fish about 15 cm long, completely harmless at first sight but extremely poisonous! It has a bright color, which already warns us to stay away from it: it is white with vertical black streaks, with small spots along the body and yellow fins.
Two other fish have strategically decided to resemble us:
The filefish Paraluteres prionurus almost did it! It is also about the same size but obviously its body is much more laterally compressed.
The coral grouper Plectropomus laevis disguises itself as a Valentini puffer fish when it is still a juvenile and therefore unable to defend itself! With this extraordinary trick it keeps predators away until it reaches a size where it no longer needs protection.
"The coral grouper clearly resembles a significantly fattened Valentini puffer fish!"
Differences between “cousins”:
The puffer fish could be confused with two of its cousins: the porcupine fish and the box fish.
The porcupine fish is larger than the pufferfish and has a more massive body with a large snout that gradually narrows into a triangle with the tip towards the tail. It has two very large eyes and a mouth that in some ways resembles ours! It can be gray or spotted with colors from brown to yellow.
The box fish is the same size as the pufferfish but with brighter colors, in fact we can find it in different colors: from green, to yellow, to purple. Its body, as the name itself suggests, is very square and resembles a box with a tail that sticks out and determines its movement!
How do we behave with him?
It is a very calm diurnal fish of the coral reef, very shy and when it notices that we are looking at it it immediately tries to hide.
Contrary to popular belief, the puffer fish becomes “a ball” only when it feels in danger and therefore subjected to considerable stress. This particular effort to inflate can only happen a few times in its life and could even lead to its death.
To avoid stressing him we can get in touch with him in a Friendly way.
How?
First of all we will look for it in the coral reef, it often rests on the sand or swims carefree among the corals. We will be able to see it both during diving and snorkeling, as it also lives at low depths.
Once we have spotted it, what can we do or not do?
Let's not chase him around the reef!
Let's admire its beauty without limiting its living space, so that it doesn't feel in danger, so let's keep our distance!
If we observe that he shows signs of impatience (he starts to swell), let's leave him alone, there will be another opportunity to take a photo or look at him closely.
Let's not try to catch it: let's not forget that it is a very poisonous fish, and the poison is also present on its skin.
Let's not take it out of the water. It's a fish!! It breathes through its gills but if it felt threatened it would also be able to inflate itself with air and risk dying!
What can we Friendy Fins do for the puffer fish?
Despite being one of the most famous reef fish, few people know about its life and the reason for its bizarre behavior. Let's spread the word of what we know among our diving and snorkelling friends.
"Now are you ready to come find me?!"