Many species of puffers have bright colors and extravagant markings that are designed to warn predators of the blowfish’s lethal toxicity. The blowfish is a quirky-looking creature with a long, tapered body and a rather bulbous head. That said, overfishing and pollution threaten pufferfish populations in some areas. With a few exceptions, blowfish are not considered to be immediately endangered. Now, there are around 150 species of puffers in both fresh and saltwater environments. Evolutionary Status of Blowfishīlowfish first appeared on earth around 138 million years ago. However, with the exception of a few species, numbers of most varieties of freshwater and marine blowfish are classified as being of “least concern” on the IUCN Red List. There are currently no statistics on the pufferfish populations. Marine puffers are typically found in the slow-moving waters around Thailand, Mexico, Philippine Islands, and the Malaysian Peninsula. Most pufferfish are saltwater specialists, preferring sheltered coral reefs, shallow coastal waters, and brackish estuaries rather than the open ocean. That’s a handy habit to have if your aquarium has a pond snail infestation to deal with, but not so good if you keep expensive ornamental snails as a cleaning crew in your tank. In addition to biting their tank companions, pufferfish will happily eat any snails they find in the tank. For example, I once owned a tiny pea puffer that bossed his much larger tank mates so much that I was forced to rehouse him on his own in a separate setup. That said, adult pufferfish are highly territorial and aggressive and don’t make suitable community fish. Generally, freshwater species and brackish blowfish are more popular in the aquarium hobby than their saltwater counterparts, largely because freshwater species of puffers are easier to keep. Those puffer species are found in the tropical regions of Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia, where the fish inhabit the rivers of the Amazon basin, Myanmar, and Bangladesh. Thirty-five blowfish species live in brackish or freshwater habitats. Read on to discover more fascinating facts about the enigmatic, potentially lethal blowfish. In addition, a large fish is less appealing to carnivorous hunters, especially if the inflated puffer in question possesses an armor of vicious spines on its skin! Since the fish are too slow to outswim most predators, it’s thought that their “inflatability” makes the puffer virtually inedible to all but the largest predatory fish. And there’s no known antidote to the fish’s poison!īlowfish or pufferfish get their common name from their ability to inflate their highly elastic stomach with water or air, blowing up to several times their regular size. With their ungainly wobbling swimming style and comical facial expression, blowfish are cute, characterful creatures that many experienced aquarists choose to keep as pets.īut did you know that a blowfish is 1,200 times more toxic than cyanide? And there’s no known antidote to the fish’s poison! In fact, there’s enough toxin contained in one blowfish to kill 30 adult human beings.
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