Has anyone actually ever seen a Figure 8 puff up?

pombe · Post by **pombe** » Tue May 30, 2006 1:25 pm

My girlfriend keeps telling me that my puffer is broken. I'm not ever going to try to make it puff obviously, but I'm curious to know if its physically possible for the little guy

He didn't even puff a little during an accidental trip to the floor several months ago...

Cheers

Pombe

Tihsho · Post by **Tihsho** » Tue May 30, 2006 1:37 pm

Figure 8's as with all puffs have the capability to puff when they are scared or feel threatened. Glad to hear your not attempting to make him puff.

Post by **RTR** » Tue May 30, 2006 6:47 pm

Yup, sure have. just like any other puffer. Lots and lots of little spines, most of which do not show when not ionflated - those few dots which do show much of time are misleading.

Jayhawk · Post by **Jayhawk** » Tue May 30, 2006 7:55 pm

I'm curious, like pombe apparently is, in how much stress/fear must be necessary to get them to puff. Let me stress, I have never, and will never, try to get my dear Hoover to puff, but when cleaning his tank, or doing something truly evil like rearranging tank furniture, he'll be obviously upset, swimming back and forth, trying to force himself behind the filter intake (which he hasn't fit behind in 9 months)...yet he never puffs.

Maybe he is smart enough to realize I'm not a threat whose going to eat him? Who knows, but I do know I've accidentally surprised him a few times when he was sleeping...and again he didn't puff. Perhaps, were he living in the wild, he'd have been eaten long, long ago.

Eric

Phaedrus · Post by **Phaedrus** » Tue May 30, 2006 8:46 pm

I think if you actually made physical menacing contact with the puff they would be more inclined to puff. When you're just messing about in the tank they would rather run away from you and hide. Puffing is a very last resort type thing designed to make them impossible (or fatal) to digest. (even though a successful digestion would be just as fatal)

What I find odd, is that there are mimic species who try very hard to look like a poisonous species, but don't actually contain any poison themselves. Predators instinctively avoid both the poisonous and mimic species alike. But why doesn't the same hold true for puffers? You would think they would have few predators because they are poisonous, and that there would be other fish species minicing puffer appearances. Are puffer species really that young in evolutionary terms?

Post by **RTR** » Tue May 30, 2006 11:46 pm

there are puffer mimics - they are the same fish. Puffers are toxic seasonally, not constantly.

To mimic a puffer, you have to be sure to lose fins and hopefully ribs - to even approach the shape. Anal and dorsal fins have to appear paired. And puffing itself is better defensive strategy than killing the predator that eats you.

The Fisherman · Post by **The Fisherman** » Wed May 31, 2006 12:36 pm

ive never seen my F8 puff, not even when i had to turn on my bedroom light in the middle of the night.

i really wanna see my modestus puff, since their stomachs are different then other puffs.

ive seen a SW puffer at my LFS puff when i wlaked up to the tank. it was pretty cool.

Tihsho · Post by **Tihsho** » Wed May 31, 2006 3:58 pm

IME SW puffers are more prone to puff then FW puffs. I wonder if the FW puffs are just more tollerant?

Roman · Post by **Roman** » Wed May 31, 2006 6:36 pm

My turgidus puffs for attention but usually only when females are in the room (he'll puff and fight his reflection untill they walk over) ... sometimes I think he likes my girlfriend more than me because of this. My girlfriend always says "sizzla'z puttin' on a show!"

Tihsho · Post by **Tihsho** » Wed May 31, 2006 7:31 pm

Roman wrote:My turgidus puffs for attention but usually only when females are in the room (he'll puff and fight his reflection untill they walk over) ... sometimes I think he likes my girlfriend more than me because of this. My girlfriend always says "sizzla'z puttin' on a show!"

Usually how it is. Your the one cleaning and re-arranging the tanks. Some puffs can see that as irritating. Plus you never know, your g/f could be slipping in a little extra food for him/her here and there

hobbes · Post by **hobbes** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 5:47 pm

Picture I found on aqualandpetsplus.com, site is bad for showing a feeding of GSP's eating feeder fish. Other than that it has great information on other fish.

Tihsho · Post by **Tihsho** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 6:01 pm

Looks more full then puffed. My figure 8's bellies just get that big after eating!

hobbes · Post by **hobbes** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 6:15 pm

I thought that too. Or he could just be as buff as my Hercules was.

Reminds me of that commerical.... Oooh. You are a buffet of manliness!

Post by **RTR** » Fri Jun 02, 2006 7:32 pm

i think the picture hobbes posted is just a grossly overfed F-8 also - that is awful.

puffergeek · Post by **puffergeek** » Sat Jun 03, 2006 2:38 pm

I've seen my F8 puffed up... right after I removed her from the gravel vacuum she got sucked into. I didn't pay a great deal of attention to exactly how she looked since I was stressed beyond belief and worried about her health, but I'll try to relate what I do recall.

She was almost perfectly round (with a tail poking out one end and her wee face on the other) and had very small spines poking out. These felt like stiff hairs, but seemed more "fragile". She deflated almost immediately but let me tell you, I have no desire to ever see her puff again.

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Has anyone actually ever seen a Figure 8 puff up?

Has anyone actually ever seen a Figure 8 puff up?