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Large puffer identification on the fly 5/12/08 Hello Crew, Marina here, former crewmember and long-time admirer emailing you from Santa Rita, Guam with a question on a fish identification. <Hey Marina, great to hear from ya, it's Jeni/Pufferpunk here. (Who else?) I'm sooooo jealous--you're diving in Guam!!!> Diving yesterday in the only harbor (we're on the Naval base) off of San Luis beach, wall dive, we come across two MASSIVE puffers hiding in a crack, not too far from shore at all at about a 3 meter depth. I have been searching the net and fishbase.org, to no avail. We tried to photograph these puppies but our inexpensive camera can only do so much and the turbidity didn't help. I have finally been able to find ONE photo of what appears to be the same beast. Let me tell you, these fish were sizable, as puffers go, I would have to guess at just under 1 meter in size. Here is the link to the single photo I've found (I assume no unauthorized reproductions, although this photo was taken in Tuman's Underwater World Aquarium). <Darn, there's no link.> I believe it may be of the genus Arothron but of course can't be sure. Any help is appreciated, no hurry as I certainly know what you all have to deal with on a regular basis. <My 1st guess would be the Arothron stellatus, which is the largest puffer I'm aware of, topping off at a whopping 47". See: http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Marine/A_Stellatus/ Let me know if that's the fella. ~PP> Cheers! Marina (now the Dobbie, formerly the Harding)
Puffer ID - 01/12/2006 I live on Long Island, and when I was young, many people, including myself, used to catch what we called, "Blow fish." People called them that for obvious reasons, but not their proper name. They are rarely seen as they use to be for many years now. I don't know why, except that I suspect pollution had a great deal to do with it. These fish were caught on the "Great South Bay." The bay is brackish water. Would you happen to know what species this is? They are still seen from time to time. <<Without a picture or detailed description it isn't possible to make a definitive ID, but I do suspect this to be Sphoeroides maculatus, the "northern puffer", as it is common in these waters. I refer you to this page for reading, regarding Great South Bay: http://training.fws.gov/library/pubs5/web_link/text/gsb_form.htm. A Google search of Sphoeroides maculatus will provide pictures for your reference.>> Thank you, Eddie V. <<You're quite welcome, glad to help. Lisa>> Puffer I.D. 7/24/05 Hello there and good evening! <Greeting Manuel, Ali here...> I was wondering if you could please help me identify this pufferfish? It was sold to me as a dogface puffer which I suppose it technically is, but it looks to me to be a cross of a white spot puffer and a pinstripe puffer (you can't see the bottom of the fish too well in the photo, but it is striped exactly like a pinstripe). I have a real good feeling that I'm wrong about this, which is why I am asking for your help. :) <You have a juvi. A. hispidus puffer. He will get BIG, prepare to provide him with a very large aquarium. See here for more info: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/tetraodontpuffers.htm > Thanks for your time and kindness, Manuel <Always welcome, rest easy - Ali> Puffer ID and Compatibility (8/13/04) Hi <Hello there> I was hoping you can clear something up for me. < Sure I can try > I recently bought a second hand tank which came with two fish. It was bought to go with my Porcupine Puffer. I thought the fish .....a puffer and lion would go well. I was told the puffer was a dogface however when we went to collect the tank the puffer had not been well and was very dark <These fish do have the ability to darken which serves as camouflage, usually occurring in the evening, when stressed or threatened. > now she is better and I have been trying to find out what she is as she isn't a dogface. I think she might be a Stars and Stripes. Can you please let me know from these links what you think. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v366/snoopy_145/fc604c3d.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v366/snoopy_145/lola2.jpg <Well I think you have a Arothron reticular is, the Reticulated Puffer, from the Indo-west Pacific. They get to be about 16 inches in length in the wild. > And from your experience how big she will get and their temperament. < I personally do not have any experience with this particular Puffer but my guess would be they would get at least a good 8 to 10 inches in captivity, perhaps a bit bigger, depending on what and how often they are fed. The Arothron genus for the most part has nothing but exemplary personalities. > They fought for 1st hour they where together but now seem to have come to an agreement. <Not uncommon. You will find mixed experiences if you read about keeping more than one Puffer in the same system.......some have great luck others do not. In part this will have to do with whether you are keeping the same, similar or different species as well as the temperaments of the individual fish. Keep a close eye on them and if the aggression continues you can rearrange the decor and if that does not work remove the aggressor to a quarantine tank for a few days, sometimes that settles them down a bit. They may continue to squabble at meal time so be sure to provide plenty of food and if this does occur I have found releasing food into different areas of the tank, when the fish are not to close together sometimes helps. > Thanks A Lot, Shelley <Your most welcome, Leslie> "Little" puffer? Hello- <Hi! Ananda here today> I'm afraid that my recently purchased puffer may be too small, what is too small? <That depends on the species.> He is maybe about 5" long. <Big guy, then, compared to the 1/2" dwarf puffers from one recent email -- but far smaller than the 3' puffer from another email!> They didn't have the name of what he was listed but the guy at the fish store told me he was a Narrow line. < Is this your guy? If so, he'll get to be about a foot long, so I think 5" is probably a good size to get -- it will be easier to train him to dead foods.> I'm wondering if or when I can feed him other foods like snails (if so what kind) or other things. (if so what and when) Right now I am feeding him frozen shrimp. He seems to like it. <Yay! If he'll eat frozen shrimp already, you'll have a much easier time feeding him. Much, much more info on feeding puffers in the FAQs, starting with http://www.wetwebmedia.com/pufferfdgfaqs.htm and continuing with http://www.wetwebmedia.com/pufferfdgfaq2.htm and the other links in blue text at the top of those pages.> Please help- <Enjoy your new puffer. --Ananda>
Pufferfish ID When I bought my dogface puffer, I thought he was a dog face, then I thought he was a white spotted, then someone told me he was a toadfish...then I thought he was a stars and stripes puffer....now I have no clue, can you please help me out. <You puffer is a Reticulated Pufferfish (Arothron reticularis). It can grow to 16" in the wild. It lives in sea-grass beds; juveniles enter mangrove zones & river mouths. It is sometimes found in brackish or even freshwater. If kept in FW it is often dirty grey in color & generally less active than individuals kept in BW - or better still, marine - aquarium. The attractive contrasting reticulated pattern, to which the species owes it's name, appears only when these fish are kept in water containing salt. These fish are not choosy as regards to food, but mussel meat is preferred. I buy most of my puffer food at the grocery store fish department. I freeze it & thaw in warm water before feeding. As with all puffers, they need to eat hard-shelled foods to keep their "beaks" trimmed. Clams, oysters, mussels, crayfish, crab legs, squid, scallops, krill, etc. are all enjoyed by my puffers. These puffers have a high degree of intraspecific aggression. If several specimens of this species are kept together then there is constant chasing & biting such that it becomes necessary to separate them. It is, however, possible to keep them with other species of puffer. The reticulated puffer is a serious predator, so please keep this in mind when housing this species with other fish.> Here are some pictures of him so you can get a better understanding. <Thank you for sending photos. It is much more help than just a description.> http://www.geocities.com/wazuph2o/fish.html Thanks a bunch |
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