Fish of The Week

Last Update : Thursday 30 August, 2001 4:17 PM

Illust : Anuwat Saisaeng

Spotted Pufferfish

Scientific name

Arothron nigropunctatus

Common name

Spotted Pufferfish

Size

30 centimeters

Dispersion

Often found in the Andaman Sea. Less frequent in the Thai Sea

Area found

Demersal fish. Sleeping still on the floor at nighttime

Depth

5 – 30 meters, mainly at 5 – 20 meters

Feed on

Various types of animals like shells, shrimps or small creatures

Situation

Can be found in almost all coral reef in the Andaman

Conservation

Not so many harm to this type of pufferfish because they are lovely.

Fish Tip

Almost does not swim away. Can be observed at a very close distance.

          Once in a while we can talk about lovely and not rare fish. This type of pufferfish is a must to know for snorkeling divers because they are tame and can be easily found (in the Andaman Sea). You can almost be guaranteed to find. He normally swims alone or in couple. But I used to meet a whole bunch of seventeen (counted with my own hand). What a talk of the sea! This was at Tao Bay, Surin Island in February 2001. After that, they might turn to be a school of deadly pufferfish.

          At night, Mister spotted pufferfish would look for a place to sleep in private. His sleeping technique is simple. Just swim down to the floor and lie still. Some sleeps on the coral or even Fire coral (Not sure if he is itching at his tummy.) He does not swim away even when we observe closely. But please do not throw the light upon him for too long. He might be awakened from a good dream in the middle of the night.

          Many people understand that pufferfish has to have sharp thorns to fight with enemy. That would be Porcupinefish more than pufferfish. The pufferfish has no thorn and can be inflated a little. They do not like to do so very much. I have seen only once when I was working on the fishing boat. He inflated so flat that I had to set him free in the sea. May be because he is poisonous, no one dares to eat him anyway. Also, he is demersal fish, swimming around the corals ducking from one to another. Probability of large fish catching him as food is low.

          An interesting point is that I have never seen small spotted pufferfish at all. I only see them at the same size of 20 centimeters long or more. I understand that they grow up in the outer sea and come to spend their adulthood in the coral reef.

          By the way…we call him spotted pufferfish. But some books might call him differently like “pointed mouth” or “black spot”. Please do not be confused he has other names.

Spotted Pufferfish



Scientific name	Arothron nigropunctatus
Common name	Spotted Pufferfish
Size	30 centimeters
Dispersion	Often found in the Andaman Sea. Less frequent in the Thai Sea
Area found	Demersal fish. Sleeping still on the floor at nighttime
Depth	5 – 30 meters, mainly at 5 – 20 meters
Feed on	Various types of animals like shells, shrimps or small creatures
Situation	Can be found in almost all coral reef in the Andaman
Conservation	Not so many harm to this type of pufferfish because they are lovely.
Fish Tip	Almost does not swim away. Can be observed at a very close distance.

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