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The northern puffer, Sphoeroides maculatus, is a species in the family Tetraodontidae, or pufferfishes, found along the Atlantic coast of North America. [2] Unlike many other pufferfish species, the flesh of the northern puffer is not poisonous, although its viscera can contain poison, [1] [2] and high concentrations of toxins have been observed in the skin of Floridian populations.
Spawning occurs after males slowly push females to the water surface or join females already present. The eggs are spherical and buoyant. Hatching occurs after roughly four days. The fry are tiny, but under magnification have a shape usually reminiscent of a pufferfish. They have a functional mouth and eyes, and must eat within a few days.
They are the main predator of puffer fish along with other large fish, sea snakes, and humans. For humans, the ovaries and the liver must be avoided to prevent ingesting any poison (Diggles et al., 2003). [9] They use their color pattern as camouflage to hide from predators by blending into coral reefs and sandy bottoms.
Spawning generally occurs between 8:00AM and 3:30PM year-round. After eggs are laid, no parental care is required because eggs are unpalatable and, thus, reasonably safe from predation. It was found that predatory fish would rarely attempt to eat the eggs of C. valentini and when eggs were ingested they would be quickly egested. This allows ...
Dwarf pufferfish dwell at the bottom of heavily vegetated waterways, predating small animals. Unlike other species of pufferfish, they are found in large groups in the wild. They breed throughout most of the year, with spawning pairs producing 1–5 eggs in 1–4 day intervals.
Colomesus asellus is unusual among freshwater pufferfish for being migratory [12] and non-territorial. [1] Colomesus asellus is known to breed during the wet season, spawning in rivers, with the numerous small eggs being scattered on the substrate and the larvae drifting downstream.
The checkered puffer, Sphoeroides testudineus, is one of several fish species belonging to the family Tetradontidae, meaning "four teeth".Puffers have four tooth plates arranged in quadrants, with two teeth on the bottom and two on the top (Carpenter 2002).
They are sometimes collectively called pufferfish, [3] not to be confused with the morphologically similar and closely related Tetraodontidae, which are more commonly given this name. They are found in shallow, temperate, and tropical seas worldwide.