Marine life  /  Pufferfish & boxfish
23 of 1316 species
Group

Pufferfish & boxfish

Pufferfish, tobies, porcupinefish, boxfish and cowfish. Slow, poorly streamlined fish that have given up speed for a defence: a rigid box, a mouthful of water, or a toxin.

Species
23
Depth
1–50 m
Rarity range
1 star of 5, found on most divesto 4 stars of 5, two or three a season
Night only
4
Can hurt a diver
14
Destinations
14

Almost all of them carry tetrodotoxin, which is not made by the fish but by bacteria it accumulates. There is no antidote. It matters if the fish is eaten and not otherwise: a puffer is safe to be near and safe to photograph.

Inflating is a last resort and it costs the fish. It is done by swallowing water, it takes time to reverse, and a fish made to do it for a photograph has been harmed for a picture that shows the animal doing something it does not normally do. The site does not carry photographs taken that way.

The boxfish and cowfish are a different defence: a rigid shell of fused plates, with only the fins, eyes and mouth free to move. They swim slowly and can be approached closely, and several release a toxin from the skin when stressed.

23 species

Photographed first, then commonest

23 written up, none photographed yet

Every one has a page. They are shown as a list rather than as pictures because nothing has been photographed or logged for them yet, and a species with nothing behind it should not sit in front of one that has.

Where they are recorded

How many of the 23 carry a record at each destination. A species usually carries several, so these do not add up to 23.

Lembeh Strait 12 Anilao 9 Dauin & Dumaguete 8 Bali 8 Papua New Guinea 6 Islas Revillagigedo 6 Florida 5 Bahamas 5 Cayman Islands 5 Ambon 2 Galapagos Islands 2 Cocos Island 2 Red Sea 2 Australia 1

The other groups

Anemonefish 11 Angelfish 25 Batfish 3 Blennies 26 Butterflyfish 35 Cardinalfish 13 Damselfish 32 Dottybacks 5 Dragonets 5 Eels & garden eels 18 Flatfish 8 Frogfish & anglers 26 Goatfish 8 Gobies & dartfish 29 Groupers & anthias 42 Hawkfish 5 Jacks & open-water fish 29 Jawfish 4 Lizardfish & flatheads 10 Morays 26 Morwongs & trumpeters 4 Parrotfish 16 Rabbitfish 5 Scorpionfish & lionfish 47 Seahorses & pipefish 53 Shrimpgobies 17 Snappers, breams & sweetlips 39 Squirrelfish & soldierfish 9 Surgeonfish & unicornfish 26 Triggerfish & filefish 25 Trumpetfish & cornetfish 4 Wrasses 56 Other fish 46 Sharks & rays 63 Turtles, sea snakes & crocodiles 11 Marine mammals & birds 10 Cephalopods 36 Nudibranchs & sea slugs 137 Sea snails & shells 26 Shrimps 38 Mantis shrimps 5 Crabs 45 Hermit crabs 10 Lobsters & squat lobsters 13 Isopods & parasitic crustaceans 5 Amphipods 2 Sea stars 18 Brittle stars & basket stars 7 Feather stars 2 Sea urchins 23 Sea cucumbers 12 Worms 11 Flatworms 3 Jellyfish & stinging drifters 10 Anemones & zoanthids 12 Corals & sponges 29 Sea squirts 4 Blackwater & plankton 52 Other invertebrates 2

All 1316 species in one index, with filters for destination, rarity and hazard.

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