The Puffer Forum

They are such spikey little guys, I've only seen that once. I always used to wonder how they could hold the spikes out to poke things, if they were little bags full of water when puffed. Until I saw one get sucked into a vortex diatom filter intake. It puffed up so violently it stuck up the pump, saving itself from being sucked in. If they can puff hard enough to jam a vortex intake, they can stay firmly puffed against any bite I can think of.

Good Lord, Nick.

Awesome pic.

Nick wrote:They are such spikey little guys, I've only seen that once. I always used to wonder how they could hold the spikes out to poke things, if they were little bags full of water when puffed. Until I saw one get sucked into a vortex diatom filter intake. It puffed up so violently it stuck up the pump, saving itself from being sucked in. If they can puff hard enough to jam a vortex intake, they can stay firmly puffed against any bite I can think of.

saw a video once of a toby getting bit by a moray with some pretty decent sized teeth. the toby puffed up and swam away looking back like "wtf were you thinking?" haha i will have to hunt down that video real quick, i was amazed he just swam away.

Wow, those teeth were like razor sharpened needles and they could not get through that pufferhide. Really impressive.

Amazing creatures!