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Bony fish

Bandtail Puffer

Sphoeroides spengleri

Also known as: Banded-tail Puffer, Bandtail Pufferfish, Blowfish, Pufferfish, Southern Swellfish, Swelltoad, Swellfish, Toadfish

LCLeast ConcernIUCN Red List, 2014
Add a photo
Adult
@gatovet · La Ceiba, Cozumel, Mexico · April 20171 / 4
01

Overview

Found hovering and blending in with the background, over mud bottoms of reef flats, mangroves and seagrass beds of coral and rocky reefs.

The bodies of Pufferfish are covered in a toxic mucus, if the skin or flesh is consumed it can be fatal to humans.
When threatened they will puff up like a football to deter predators.

02

How to identify

COLOURS
Pattern
blotches
Body shape
skin tags
Behaviour
camouflagedhoveringinflates

Tap any trait to see other fish that share it.

03

Habitat & where to find it

  • Range · Western Atlantic
  • Country only · 4
LIVES IN

Found hovering and blending in with the background, over mud bottoms of reef flats, mangroves and seagrass beds of coral and rocky reefs.

RANGE
04

Adult photos 4

05

Discussion 2

Comments are checked by a moderator before they appear.

2 comments

  • Bart Hazes· 12 May 2015

    I believe this is a young chestnut blenny (Cirripectes castaneus).

    Helpful· 1
  • fishx6Top Contributor· 12 May 2015

    I think you are right, thank you!

    Helpful
ALL STAGES
FOR THE MARINE-BIOLOGY CURIOUS

Deep dive

Taxonomy

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classTeleostei
  4. orderTetraodontiformes
  5. familyTetraodontidae
  6. genusSphoeroides
  7. speciesSphoeroides spengleri (Bloch, 1785)

SourcesWoRMSFishBase

06

More in the family

Puffers (Tetraodontidae)

Bennett's Sharpnose Puffer

Canthigaster bennetti

12 photos

Bicolored Toby

Canthigaster smithae

8 photos

Black-spotted Puffer

Arothron nigropunctatus

39 photos

Blue-spotted Puffer

Arothron caeruleopunctatus

8 photos

Blue-spotted Toby

Canthigaster cyanospilota

3 photos

Bullseye Puffer

Sphoeroides annulatus

3 photos

Checkered Pufferfish

Sphoeroides testudineus

6 photos

Compressed Toby

Canthigaster compressa

13 photos

Crown Toby

Canthigaster coronata

1 photo

Eyespot Pufferfish

Dichotomyctere ocellatus

1 photo

Grass Puffer

Takifugu niphobles

1 photo

Green Pufferfish

Dichotomyctere nigroviridis

1 photo