| Diodon hystrix | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Tetraodontiformes |
| Family: | Diodontidae |
| Genus: | Diodon |
| Species: | D. hystrix |
| Binomial name | |
| Diodon hystrix Linnaeus, 1758 | |
The spot-fin porcupinefish (Diodon hystrix), also known as the spotted porcupinefish, black-spotted porcupinefish or simply porcupinefish, is a member of the family Diodontidae.
The spot-fin porcupinefish is a medium-sized fish which grows up to 91 cm, but the average size mostly observed is 40 cm. [2] Its body is elongated with a spherical head with big round protruding eyes, and a large mouth which is rarely closed. The pectoral fins are large, the pelvic fins are absent, and the anal and dorsal fins are close to the caudal peduncle. The latter move simultaneously during swimming. The skin is smooth and firm; the scales are modified into spines. The body coloration is beige to sandy-yellow marbled with dark blotches and dotted with numerous small black spots.
In case of danger, the porcupinefish can inflate itself by swallowing water to deter the potential predator with its larger volume and it can raise its spines.
The porcupinefish concentrates tetrodotoxin in certain parts of its body such as the liver, skin, gonads and the viscera. This defensive system constitutes an additional device to dissuade potential predators. [3]
The porcupinefish is circumglobal, found in tropical and subtropical waters. [2] It has been recorded twice in the Mediterranean Sea, off southern Italy (1963) and the Balearic islands (2016). [4]
Juveniles are pelagic up to the time that they are about 20 cm in length. Adults favour lagoons, top reefs and seaward coral or rocky reefs from one to 50 m depth, sheltering under ledges or in caves during the day. [2]
The porcupinefish's diet is based on sea urchins, gastropods, clams [5] and crustaceans. [6]
This fish is solitary, except during mating periods, and it has a nocturnal activity with a maximal activity at sunset and sunrise.
As with most fish, the porcupinefish is infected by a variety of parasites. Spectacular parasites are the cysts of the larvae of the trypanorhynch cestode Molicola horridus , often found in great numbers in the liver. [7] These parasites represent no danger to humans.
Porcupinefish are medium-to-large fish belonging to the family Diodontidae from the order Tetraodontiformes which are also commonly called blowfish and, sometimes, balloonfish and globefish. The family includes about 18 species. They are sometimes collectively called pufferfish, not to be confused with the morphologically similar and closely related Tetraodontidae, which are more commonly given this name.
Trypanorhyncha is an order of cestodes, a type of flatworm.
The turkey moray ,also known as the guineafowl moray or as the white-mouth/whitemouth moray is a species of marine fish in the family Muraenidae.
The Malabar grouper also known as blackspot rockcod, estuary rockcod, giant rock cod, greasy grouper, Malabar rockcod, Morgan's cod or speckled grouper, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. It is found in the Indo-Pacific region. It has entered the Mediterranean Sea from the Red Sea by way of the Suez Canal as a Lessepsian migrant.
The blacktip grouper, also known as the redbanded grouper, blacktipped cod, black-tipped rockcod, footballer cod, red-barred cod, red-barred rockcod, scarlet rock-cod or weathered rock-cod, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a grouper from the subfamily Epinephelinae which is part of the family Serranidae, which also includes the anthias and sea basses. It is found in the tropical Indo-Pacific region. It is the type species of the genus Epinephelus.
The checkerboard wrasse is a fish belonging to the wrasse family. It is native to the area including the Indian Ocean to central Pacific Ocean.
The black-blotched porcupinefish, also known as shortspine porcupinefish, is a member of the family Diodontidae. It is found in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-Pacific on coral and rocky reefs and in inshore waters. Other names are the blotched porcupinefish and the brown-backed porcupinefish.
The long-spine porcupinefish, also known as the freckled porcupinefish, porcupine puffer, and porcupine pufferfish, is a species of marine fish in the family Diodontidae.
Cyclichthys spilostylus, known commonly as the spotbase burrfish or yellowspotted burrfish, is a species of marine fish in the family Diodontidae.
The slender-spined porcupine fish or globefish is a porcupinefish of the family Diodontidae, found in the waters of southern Australia, as far north as Port Jackson to Geraldton, Western Australia. It is most common in Port Phillip Bay and the coastal waters of Tasmania in shallow coastal waters and under manmade jetties. It is known to occur at a depth range of 1 to 70 m.
Porcupinefishes or balloonfishes, are any of the various species of the genus Diodon, the type genus of Diodontidae.
The banded pipefish or ringed pipefish is a species of fish in the Syngnathidae family.
The yellowhead wrasse is a fish species belonging to wrasse family native to shallow tropical waters in the Caribbean Sea and western Atlantic Ocean.
Chilomycterus antennatus, the bridled burrfish, is a species of fish belonging to the family Diodontidae. It is native to the tropical waters of the Western Atlantic from southeastern Florida and the Bahamas to northern South America. They are also found in the Eastern Atlantic off the cost of Mauritania.
Chilomycterus reticulatus, the spotfin burrfish, spotted burrfish, Pacific burrfish, spotfin porcupinefish or few-spined porcupinefish, is a species of fish in the genus Chilomycterus, which is part of the porcupinefish family Diodontidae.
Arothron caeruleopunctatus, also known as the blue-spotted pufferfish, is a demersal marine fish belonging to the family Tetraodontidae.
Cyclichthys orbicularis, known commonly as the birdbeak burrfish among other vernacular names, is a species of marine fish in the family Diodontidae.
Diadema savignyi is a species of long-spined sea urchin belonging to the family Diadematidae. Common names include long-spined sea urchin, black longspine urchin and the banded diadem. It is native to the east coast of Africa, the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean and western Pacific Ocean. It was first described in 1829 by the French naturalist Jean Victoire Audouin. The specific epithet honours the French zoologist Marie Jules César Savigny who described many new marine species from the Mediterranean Sea and Red Sea. The type locality is Mauritius.
Diodon eydouxii, commonly known as the pelagic porcupinefish, is a species of porcupinefish with a circumtropical marine distribution.
Heteropsammia cochlea, also known as walking dendro, is a species of small solitary coral in the family Dendrophylliidae that is native to the Indo-Pacific area.
