Arothron hispidus ( Linnaeus, 1758 )

Veeruraj, Anguchamy, Arumugam, Muthuvel, Ajithkumar, Thangappan & Balasubramanian, Thangavel, 2011, Distribution of Tetraodontiformes (Family: Tetraodontidae) along the Parangipettai Coast, Southeast coast of India, Zootaxa 3015, pp. 1-12 : 5-6

Arothron hispidus ( Linnaeus, 1758)

White-spotted puffer

( Fig. 5).

Tetraodon hispidus

Dilobomycterus hispidus Crayracion hispidus

Common names. White spotted puffer, Stars and Stripes puffer fish.

Habitat. Reef-associated, brackish, marine, non-migratory, depth range 3– 50 m.

Colour. Head and body greenish brown above and whitish below. Dorsal and lateral side of body, caudal peduncle and caudal fin with several milky white spots; belly white with prominent wavy dark lines. Base of pectoral fins dark becoming yellow distally.

Geographical distribution. Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa to Panama, north to southern Japan and the Hawaiian Islands, south to Lord Howe and Rapa islands. Eastern Pacific: Baja California and the Gulf of California to Panama.

Description of species. Dorsal soft spines (total): 10–11; Pectoral soft spines: 16–17; Anal soft spines: 11–12; Caudal soft spines: 8

The body is generally greenish-brown in color, the back, sides and caudal fin profusely speckled with white spots, and the belly marked with white bars. A single bent lateral line. Entire body covered with small spines except around snout and caudal peduncle and each nostril with two fleshy solid tentacles. Restricted gill opening.

Biology and fishery. Epibenthic, benthopelagic and mainly marine. Inhabit outer reef slopes to depths of at least 50 m, inner reef flats and lagoons. Juveniles are common in weedy areas of estuaries. Also found in coastal bays and estuaries, usually near rocky reefs or on sand-stretches between reefs with algae-rubble to about 20 meters depth, or in shallow areas with sparse sea grass growth. Usually solitary and territorial on sandy to rubble areas. Feed on fleshy, calcareous, or coralline algae, detritus, mollusks, tunicates, sponges, corals, zoanthid anemones, crabs, tube worms and echinoderms. Length ranged from 12.5 to 55 cm TL male/unsexed, generally caught with fishing trawls.

Remarks. This species is easily distinguished from other tetraodontiforms in the area by the presence of 2 broad yellow rings around pectoral fin and 2–4 dark bands across sides.

Not edible as flesh of fishes is believed to be poisonous and mainly harvested for the aquarium trade.