Identification Asian puffer

[jonasPH]

Dear Puffer enthusiasts,

In the extreme south of the Philippines(not far from Sabah, borneo) i caught a puffer in a freshwater lake (fed by a giant waterfall). The lake was full of them, all measuring about 7 cm. Just to be sure about the identification: is this Teatrodon nigrovirids?

Thanks!

[Jase]

looks like it. how far from the sea is this lake?

[recombinantrider]

Wow a lake full of them is AWESOME!
Yes, it looks like a tetraodon nigroviridis to me. I'm interested in whether there's a stream/river with easy access from the ocean to this lake. Very interesting stuff and thanks for sharing!

[yunachin]

Wow, that is pretty wild. You should try and get some shots of them in the lake.

[jonasPH]

thanks everybody for the replies, the lake is only about 6 kilometers from the sea connected via a river. But almost all specimens in the lake where around 7 cm, since they can get much larger (if they are negroviridis) i thought maybe the adults move downstream (brackish), but i did not investigate since there are some large saltwater crocodiles downstream, hehe.

[Jase]

Pretty cool! I don't blame you about the crocs
So are you native to that area? Do you guys eat them or just put em back?

[recombinantrider]

It is really neat! I wonder if the adult GSPs spawn upstream at low salinity in the Philippines. From what you could tell, were there many adults (full grown is around 6") at all?

[xmikebrock]

thats really cool how you went fishing for GSPs lmao

[jonasPH]

I was actually looking for tilapia but then I saw that the lake was full with these puffers. All of them were the size as the one in the picture or smaller, I saw about 20 specimens but none larger then 7 cm. So if the species is negroviridis, where are the adults? . . . . in areas with a higher salinity probably.

the locals are aware of the poison so there are no fishing activities in this lake because it are always the puffers which will take the bait on the hook.

by the way I am not a local but a biologist from Europe.

[Martin Hi.]

hi jonas,

I was actually looking for tilapia but then I saw that the lake was full with these puffers. All of them were the size as the one in the picture or smaller, I saw about 20 specimens but none larger then 7 cm. So if the species is negroviridis, where are the adults? . . . . in areas with a higher salinity probably.

the locals are aware of the poison so there are no fishing activities in this lake because it are always the puffers which will take the bait on the hook.

by the way I am not a local but a biologist from Europe.

if you are a biologist from europe (Which country?): will you bring some of them here?
the fish that we are calling t.nigroviridis today are actually more different species that are very difficult to differentiate. actually i think that some of them have not been named yet.
the fish that you have caught there does not look like the tipical ones that we know from mass-imports. but very seldom we also have them in the shops.
as you say that they are all in freshwater and that you are very near to sabah, my first bet would be that you have found a "new" habitat of tetraodon sabahensis or t.kretamensis. t.sabahensis is (that is my personal thinking!) nearly not differentiable from some other species. t. kretamensis is easily to differentiate from t.nigroviridis by his nostrils (see dekkers for further information!).

martin

[Jase]

Had we known you were a biologist, we might have called Martin to start with!
I'd be interested to see if you can take any home for further study...

What all are you studying, if you don't mind my asking?

[Myaj]

Glad Martin Hi stopped in.. these guys don't look like your typical GSP we see in stores, but I'm sure there's so many varients out there its not even funny.

Its been proven lately that adult GSP's can only breed in full marine (sperm is not viable in lower salinities) so that would probably be why there were no adults around, or another indicator that these are a slightly different species.

Must be amazingly cool to see a lake full of them though. I wouldn't want to take a swim in it!

[Sponge bob]

Hey you should put a dome over the lake and make it yours

[By_a_coo]

Hi Jonas

Have you ever tested the water parameters from the local lake? Did you take some pictures of the environment and the puffer's habitat? That would be very interesting!

[jonasPH]

I am originally from Netherlands but I am working in Asia (mariculture).

I will go back to the place probably within a month to check the parameters and to see where the bigger individuals are (if there are any).

Thanks for the info Martin!