White-spotted Pufferfish – A Tumefied and Poisonous Fish

Photo courtesy from Wikiwand

White-spotted Pufferfish (Arothron hispidus)

Max. Length: 50 centimeters
Length at 1st Maturity: 29 centimeters
a value: 0.06338
b value: 2.755
Depth Range: 1 – 50 meters (3 – 165 feet)
Frequency: Abundant in the reefs of the Indo-Pacific Ocean

Photo courtesy from OzAnimals

A white-spotted pufferfish is one of the few species in Cocos Island that you can easily identify. Just imagine its body slightly similar to those of the white-spotted boxfish only that they have  a greenish brown color where white spots are scattered all over the sides of its body except for the belly portion which has white lines instead of spots.

If you can have a closer look at a white-spotted pufferfish during your underwater adventures in Cocos Island, you will notice that its nostrils has a protrusion of solid and fleshy tentacles. If you further look at their skin, you will see that it is covered with small spines that can become erected when the animal is provoked.

Threaten it and it will Bloat

If there is one species in Cocos Island that inflates its stomach then bloats itself when surprised or threatened, then it is the pufferfish. When it feels threatened, it gulps in water to its expandable stomach wherein the bloating process triggers other defense mechanism such as the protrusion of its spines embedded in its body.

Photo courtesy from Fishes of Andaman Sea

This display is a defense mechanism where predators will be discouraged to devour this upsized species where it can double its size in just a few seconds.  Kidding aside, this case is also applicable to humans where we do not want to eat bloated foods.

However, this defense mechanism has its own downside. The bloating process consumes energy causing a pufferfish to be exhausted and can be vulnerable to predators once it has gone back to its normal size.

As far divers are concerned, we may think that a bloated pufferfish presents itself for a play or touching. May we remind you that the longer a pufferfish stays bloated, the more energy it consumes. So the longer you play or touch a pufferfish, you can exhaust them to the point where they have no more energy to swim. So, do not touch it.

Delicious but Highly Poisonous to Eat

Yes, this oddly looking fish is both highly nutritious and delicious.  It contains essential fatty acids that can nourish a persons body and has become a gourmet dish called Fugu Sashimi which is very popular especially in the seafood loving country of Japan.

Thinly sliced pufferfish meat served as Fugu Sashimi. Photo courtesy from nkikichua

But we warned you, while a white-spotted pufferfish favorite meal includes tunicates, sponges, corals, sea anemones, tube worms and echinoderms which all contain a certain amount of toxin, their meat can be contaminated with poisonous toxins especially if their poison glands are ruptured. So Master Chefs specializing on fresh pufferfish meat being served as Sashimi has been trained and certified to carefully cut off the poison glands without ever contaminating the meat, otherwise they will be held liable for any untoward incident after eating a pufferfish. In fact, the toxin is so potent when ruptured that it stays in the meat even if had undergone several culinary processes including sun drying.

We know that we got your attention and might eventually try a Fugu Sashimi. We dare you not to. PLEASE.  Instead, indulge yourself in other fresh seafoods that is publicly known to be both delicious and safe.

Reference

Fishbase: www.fishbase.org

IUCN Redlist of Threatened Species: www.iucnredlist.org

Encyclopedia of Life: www.eol.org

Video courtesy from Teddy Wang

About Tristan Paylado
Tristan is a marine biologist and a CMAS 2-Star Dive Instructor
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