The Puffer Forum

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Have fun with your puffs

Total length is not a very stable measure. Fins do get nipped in the wild just as the do in captivity. Measures including the tail with extended filaments would give inaccurate implications of the real size of the fish. The standard length gives quite stable measures.

Plus, although not often mentioned, collected fish tend not to be exactly well packed or given smooth transport back to the museum or university hosting the collection,and over time preserved specimens may suffer caudal fin damage from handling in examinations - you can't allow identity questions to arise when the length measure changes over time. The nose to caudal peduncle measure is stable, so standard length is the commonly used measure.