Who Gives A Fish Forums

Hi everyone,

Would appreciate it if someone could confirm the ID on the Puffer for me.

Cheers, Sam

That's an Arothron hispidus. Great fish, very personable, but be aware they can grow quite large - I recall one in Hawai'i that was following people around, and it was at least 16 inches in length.

That's just plain unsettling. I recall this one time at Disneyworld's Animal Kingdom, I did that snorkeling thing and this massive triggerfish starts following me around. At first, I thought it wasn't that big, but then I caught a glimpse of it from the side and I was like, whoa, that thing's huge.

The larger ones could easily inflict serious damage with a single bite, given the immense power in their jaws.

lovely puffer, btw....

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Arothron hispidus - is that indeed the Stars & Stripes Puffer? I picked this beauty up last night from a private seller just down the road - about 6-7" long. Managed to get her for £12, which seemed a steal considering how lovely she is.

I'd been wanting a puffer for ages, and this was a 'now or never' type purchase. She was in a Rio180 with a bunch of other fish, including a Regal Tang and a Yellow Tang, but despite that, she was healthy and active. I bagged her underwater to avoid the risk of her inflating with air, and brought her home in a box.

When I got her home, I could tell she hadn't been fed shelled food before - her beak was a bit too sharp. I used my empty nano reef as a holding tank until this morning, then transferred her into a spare 240L with mature water. She seems happy and playful, and is already showing interest in the shelled cockles I've offered her.

I knew she was going to get big, but I'm planning to keep her on her own, so I'll be upgrading to a 400-500L eventually. Unless, of course, I decide to keep her in a 6' or 7' community tank - we'll see. Either way, she's a beautiful fish, and I might just thin down some of my turtle tanks to keep her for longer.

I know I might not have done this in the most logical way, but I've always loved puffers, and I knew I could offer her a better home. Any advice would be great - I want to make sure I'm doing everything right for her.