T. Sabahensis : Coolest fish I knew.

[Nick]

I concur that all of the photos I have seen that I was sure were T. sabahensis do seem to have a lighter area within their dark spots, particularly larger ones, but was unsure if this was only strongly visible in photos, if it's easily visible in person, I'd say it's another good identifier; I've not noticed that in GSP. I'm not sure about them being caught in their spawning area, as small juveniles are much less likely to able to swim far or fast, so the small ones managing to leave the spawning grounds seems unlikely. In that case we'd see a spectrum of sizes, or primarily small ones as there are far more younger puffers to be found than older in areas with both. I'm thinking they may spawn somewhere far from their adult inland river range, perhaps in estuaries, making their way upriver as they get older, or in lakes also far from the river collection sites. For all we know about puffer reproduction, they could scatter eggs and have a planktonic fry stage, the eggs simply floating downriver to hatch in the salt marshes or lakes where the currents take them, and you are right that they spawn where these are caught. Without a detailed geography of the collection areas and much more information on breeding behaviors, it's all speculation. It could even be that young specimens are taken as well but are VERY fragile, and simply cannot survive the harvesting and shipping process. With so little information made available by tropical fish collectors, many many compelling questions remain unanswered.

[Umbrella]

Fishfan : I will look at all my pictures and I will show you his teeth.

I still have my Saba... hes on ice. So I can take a good look at him. I'll take photos of some things I think are important. Post here if you can think of any pics of him youd like to see... like his teeth, which I will snag photos of.

-UMB

P.S. - The comment about him being a Mbu / Fluviatilis Combo ---- > I think you are on to something but one or both fish used to make him are incorrect... like I doubt its a Fluviatilis. Gotta be somethin else. In my fish here, I can see the Mbu pattern, but honestly I think their counterpart has to be the 'Giant Spotted Puffer'. The ones they are mixed in with.

[Myaj]

This is all great info.

The spots with a lighter center, the darker "fill in" between spots.

To me, their face looks... longer? There's always something about the face and eyes that doesn't look like a GSP to me when I see these puffers.

[Umbrella]

Yep I agree Myaj.

But hey! What IF ( BIG what if... ) we have stumbled across a NEW NEW Puffer species. I think WE here ( as in TPF ) should get to name it... since we did/are doing the investigatory work

What do you guys think ? Think I'm out of my element ? lol

Tetraodon Myaj ?!?! Tetraodon Corvus ? ?! Hrmm. Too many lol. We need like a Tetraodon Myacorvspockumbrapunk ... or something. That or we just call him Bob.

lols.

[Hilly]

I already call dibs on Tetraodon Hillyi

[FishFan]

Looking at the politics of Burma, it seems unlikely that new fish would have started coming out of the country near the end of last year. The country has been under military rule since 1962 and there was an attempted coup in August2007. Then again, perhaps the insurgents were funded by puffer sales.

[Umbrella]

Ok here looky! I may have found something. Take my 2 puffers and Tater and Spud. Now compare them to this baby :

http://thepuffer.s464.sureserver.com/fo ... 4.JPG.html

http://thepuffer.s464.sureserver.com/fo ... 5.JPG.html

They look like they may be the same to me. Vibrant colors on top, and look at the face. The coloring of the face seems similar. I am only guessing that as they grow.. their spots stretch and you get little donuts. What you guys think ? See any similarities ?

They can also both change belly color to black ( as some of my 'GSP's can not )
They both also require salt to live. ( at least brackish )
They can both display and iridescence in their eyes. ( some of my 'GSP's can not )

Thats all I have atm.

[Nick]

Only time will tell I supose... but as far as I know, all GSP can get black belies sometimes. I think often facial and aspects of body shape can be deceptive to identify by unless they are a discrete feature(such as position of nose thingers) because the body weight and composition of a puffer can create very different shapes, they are a ribless fish.

[FishFan]

We've seen quite a few small puffers in our LFS, some similar to the ones in your photos. They have the irregular spots but none have the netting outside the spots or the open dot centers. Generally the disposition of these fish is different too. Tator and Spud act almost like schooling fish in that they follow each other around and sleep next to each other like peas in a pod. The small puffers in the stores tend to bite and chase each other and are very attracted to the movements of other fish (as in attraction for the purpose of food). As you said, time will tell. We don't have any experience growing puffers up from small sizes. Perhaps the personality is a product of the environment and, like Koi, the adults can look very different from the young fish.

[Pufferpunk]

What to you think of the large puffers pictured here? They are living in full SW.

They started out looking just like any other GSP, with perfectly round spots & a greenish glowing head. Sorry, I don't have any baby pics.

[Nick]

Look more GSPish to me... the spots are often irregular, but many are round, and only a few places seem to have dark areas between spots. There are no dark spots with bright centers at all. The green areas are a larger and less like a ring around the spots, at lest on their heads. Going to have to go with BIG gsp... that photo looks vaguely familiar, has that been around before?

[Pufferpunk]

It was my avatar for a long time.

[Umbrella]

What to you think of the large puffers pictured here?

Very nice. That is what I like to see You might not have any photos of your puffs as babies, but if I recall correctly

They started out looking just like any other GSP, with perfectly round spots & a greenish glowing head.

Does that mean you had them since they were small ? If yes, then maybe you remember what they did and did not do as a baby ?

Just a side question:
Do you think it is the presence/absence of salt that determines whether or not they can or can not change the color of their belly ?

[Umbrella]

We've seen quite a few small puffers in our LFS, some similar to the ones in your photos. They have the irregular spots but none have the netting outside the spots or the open dot centers. Generally the disposition of these fish is different too. Tator and Spud act almost like schooling fish in that they follow each other around and sleep next to each other like peas in a pod. The small puffers in the stores tend to bite and chase each other and are very attracted to the movements of other fish (as in attraction for the purpose of food). As you said, time will tell. We don't have any experience growing puffers up from small sizes. Perhaps the personality is a product of the environment and, like Koi, the adults can look very different from the young fish.

And how many do you suppose you have seen? Like... Lifetime # of live GSP's in front of you. Not photos. I'm curious

I have seen about 30. ( I'd like to see more )

[Umbrella]

So according to fishbase ... this mystery fish here is nothing more than a Fluviatilis.

See here:

http://fishbase.org/Photos/PicturesSumm ... at=species

Therefore, my assumption would be that MY 3rd fish is in fact the REAL T. Sabahensis.