Help ID a freshwater puffer at the Shedd Aquarium - Chonerhinos naritus?

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lemonpuff
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Help ID a freshwater puffer at the Shedd Aquarium - Chonerhinos naritus?

Post by lemonpuff »

(Hi all! New to puffers, even newer to the forum. Glad such a rich resource for puffers and puffer lovers exists!)

I'm here with a question and a sad story. I am not a fish keeper, but have been a fan of one of the freshwater puffers at the Shedd Aquarium (Chicago) for many months. We visited it often and affectionately nicknamed it "Lemon Puff," because it was the size and color of a lemon. Last month, I was informed that this puffer had passed on, after sixteen years at the Shedd.

I was pretty devastated that I would no longer be able to visit my favorite fish. It was a mainstay at its tank and was always happy to greet visitors.

So I asked many questions to their Fishes Department (which was wonderful and responsive), to learn more about this fish. This began my research into exactly who Lemon Puff was, and what type of puffer it was. See, the nameplate at the aquarium placed it as Chonerhinos naritus, which is a brackish species found in Southeast Asia. C. naritus had other species under its genus, which were moved to Auriglobus; based on what I found online, there are many differences between Chonerhinos and Auriglobus, and I'm starting to wonder if Lemon Puff truly was C. naritus.

For starters, Lemon Puff was only 6 inches at 16 years old. I have read that Chonerhinos is supposed to reach almost 11 inches. Additionally, Chonerhinos is yellow on its underbelly, while Lemon Puff had a pale yellow (but not fully white) underbelly. Lemon Puff also had 22-24 dorsal rays (you can see in my pictures), while Chonerhinos are supposed to have closer to 30.

On the other hand, many Auriglobus species exhibit lateral compression, while Lemon Puff was the club-shaped phenotype typical of other puffers.

I am getting confused, and would like to find out which is the case. (Not sure if the Shedd would be able to help, since Lemon Puff was the only one of its species that they had.) I thought that the Puffer Forum may be able to help me positively identify this fish.

Here are the pictures I took: https://imgur.com/a/c74a5si Hope someone can help!

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Mookies
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Re: Help ID a freshwater puffer at the Shedd Aquarium - Chonerhinos naritus?

Post by Mookies »

To me (A non expert), that looks like a Avocado Puffer - Also known as Golden or Bronze Puffer (As it says on the sign) - And the name is Auriglobus Modestus. Only thing making me hesitant is the age and the size. Maybe someone more experiences will chip in. :)

I had an avocado puffer, but my Marvin is SIPping with Lemon Puff <3
lemonpuff
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Re: Help ID a freshwater puffer at the Shedd Aquarium - Chonerhinos naritus?

Post by lemonpuff »

Mookies wrote: Wed Apr 06, 2022 7:58 pm To me (A non expert), that looks like a Avocado Puffer - Also known as Golden or Bronze Puffer (As it says on the sign) - And the name is Auriglobus Modestus. Only thing making me hesitant is the age and the size. Maybe someone more experiences will chip in. :)

I had an avocado puffer, but my Marvin is SIPping with Lemon Puff <3
Thanks for the input, I also think it is an Avocado Puffer - but I feel like the aquarium wouldn't be wrong on this. :D Hope Marvin is doing swimmingly on the other side.
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Re: Help ID a freshwater puffer at the Shedd Aquarium - Chonerhinos naritus?

Post by Corvus »

As you already noted Chonerhinos naritus always has much more fin rays than any Auriglobus. The puffer in question was more likely Auriglobus modestus (maybe some other Auriglobus, cannot tell for sure with the pics).
Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Give a fish a man, and he'll eat for weeks.
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