Puffer Fish
Puffer fish is also known as blow fish or balloon fish. They have highly elastic stomach and use them to escape from predators. They quickly absorb a large amount of water or if necessary, they ingest air as well. This technique turns them in to a virtually inedible round object, making them several times larger than their size.
Fast Facts: –
- Most of the puffer fishes contain a substance making them foul tasting. It is caked tetrodotoxin and it is sufficient to cause death.
- One puffer fish contain enough toxins to kill more than 30 people.
- There is no known antidote for puffer fish’s toxin. It is 1,000 times more poisonous than cyanide.
- Their slow and uncoordinated swimming style makes them unprotected by predators.
- There are around 120 known species of puffer fish.
- Puffer fishes are mostly found in warm tropical and subtropical ocean waters.
- These fishes do not have scales. Some of them have spines. They generally have skin from rough to spiky.
- They have four teeth which are fused together and form a structure like beak.
- Puffer fishes generally feed on algae and invertebrates.
- The Stellate puffer fish is the largest one. They can reach up to 4 feet in length.
- The dwarf puffer fish is the smallest which cannot reach even up to one inch. These fishes have a choice whether they want to be a male or a female.
- Puffer fishes can change their colour in response to their environment.
- More colourful puffer fish, the more poisonous it is.
- They can be easily found in the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean.
- Some species of puffer fish like: – green spotted fish can be kept as pet but they require a lot of care.