# Puffer fish identity needed!



## andaroo (Nov 14, 2008)

Can someone please tell me what type of puffer fish this is?





















I saw it at the blue planet aquarium, it's so cute and dopey looking! I'd say it was atleast 20 inches.

I've seen around 2 inch ones in a pet store before i saw this one, they were so cute they all came to the front of the tank and looked like they were smiling:flrt:
What type would they be? As I am wanting to get some in the future.:2thumb:


----------



## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

No idea but it's very nice. Lol, the first photo I saw was the one of your frog in your siggy and I just thought "Huh?" :lol2:


----------



## PSYCHOSIS (Sep 23, 2008)

I ust to keep (Colomesus asellus) , But i dont no what this is , sorry m8 .


----------



## andaroo (Nov 14, 2008)

this is like the one i saw in the pet store.


----------



## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

andaroo said:


> this is like the one i saw in the pet store.


_That_ one is a porcupine puffer, Diodon holacanthus. Not too hard to care for in captivity I dont think, need a decent size tank, a marine tank. As always... do your research.


----------



## LDP (Jan 16, 2008)

Looks like Arothron stellatus.
The PufferPedia


----------



## stephenie191 (May 29, 2007)

My mam saw one of these in petmania near me and she LOVES it!

Said it abit like ET!


If we had the space/money for a marine tank i would have got her it 


REALLY CUTE :flrt:


----------



## Art_Gecko101 (May 6, 2006)

1st one looks like a starry dogface from that pic maybe? 2nd pic is a porcupine puffer. Cheeky little things, watch out for their big tooth, they can give a good nip and will often spit at you if they get impatient for food! great characters!

Lots of puffers need to eat snails often to wear down their tooth otherwise it can overgrow, but im not sure if that's the case for porcupines or not.


----------



## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

AshMashMash said:


> As always... do your research.


Indeed. : victory:


----------



## GECKO=] (Apr 5, 2009)

no idea but i like it to


----------



## ern79 (Jul 26, 2007)

its definitely not a dog faced puffer of any description (arothron sp.) it some kind of pocupine (diodon sp.) not sure which though


----------



## tinks30 (Nov 2, 2008)

It looks abit like a mabu puffer, but thats a freshwater puffer, it looks like ur one is a marine puffer?


----------



## Adambrogan (Mar 8, 2009)

it looks alot like a leopard porcupine puffer they had one in the ripples waterlife by me very very rare and expensive, this one was around 5 inchs for 129.99...... not saying thats defo what it is tho lol!


----------



## rfuktt77 (May 23, 2009)

andaroo said:


> Can someone please tell me what type of puffer fish this is?


Hey

I'm not totally sure of the name for the first puffer you asked for but I think it's a Diodon Hystrix / Spot-fin Porcupinefish, it can grow to 36inches / 3ft in lengh so is not suitable for the home aquarium. It comes from the same family as the porcupine puffer fish (as mentioned before). Both puffer's are from the Diodontidae family, which means 2 teeth, as unlike other puffers they have 2 crushing plates to eat with (one at top and one at bottom). This means that they never have to worry about their teeth growing to large. Other puffers are from the Tetraodon family, meaning 4 teeth, and have 2 teeth fused together at the top of their mouth and the same at the bottom.

If you want to keep one then go for the Diodon holocanthus / Porcupine puffer you saw in your LFS, they can vary in colour / pattern slightly but are the same fish, here's a few examples:-

*
























*The minimum recomended sized tank for one of these is a 120usG / 48inches x 24inches x 24 inches / 4ft x 2ft x 2ft tank. That's for this puffer to live in alone as it creates a lot of Bioload / poo and is also a very messy eater.

Just as the Mbu Puffer is known as the most interactive and friendly puffer of the freshwater world the Porcupine puffer is the same for the Marine / Salt water world.

Hope this helps

Let me know if you have anymore Q's

ps If you're serious about learning all about how to look after any puffer or just want to know more about which kinds of puffers there are then join ThePufferForum.com, It's got loads of info and great friendly people with loads of experience (make sure you get a big enough tank though otherwise they'll give you a kind telling off  ) My name is Puffertt77 on there so look me up if you join 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diodontidae


----------

