The Puffer Forum

I'm personally satisfied with most of the more modern species descriptions and many classical ones, but there are some cases such as pustulatus/lineatus; Turgidus/cochinchinensis; Chelonodon spp.; T. nigroviridis/sabahensis/kretamensis that leave much room for speculations.

For the genera I'm also happy with most definitions... the only unclarity coming to my mind right now is if the genus Tetraodon should be applied to the Asian puffers now in this genus further on. Many have already been transferred to Monotrete (correctly in my opinion), but the ones left like GSP differ in characters probably relevant for the genus level from their African cousins.

And then there is the similar-looking Carinotetraodon species.

May I ask what the main difference is between Tetraodon and Monotrete? I've always wondered that because I see some species listed as Tetraodon on some websites, and listed as Monotrete on others.

The narines are different to Tetraodons.

Also see: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=9812&p=98956&hilit= ... ete#p98956

Many of your puffers are Monotrete at the current state of taxonomy.

Corvus - Again, I'm sorry to appear a bit slow, but can you explain the main differences between puffers that are labeled 'Monotrete' versus those labeled 'Tetraodon' ? I thought most all puffers were in the family Tetradonitae ... but in layman's terms, why are some Monotrete and some not? Remember, I'm not as "with-it" as you and Woland, he seems to already have a understanding of how all this works, while I am still very much just a lay person who hasn't a clue!

All puffers except the ones with larger spines are in the family Tetraodontidae. But a family often consists of various genera, which are a sub-category. The sub-category of a genus would be a species, which means that a number of similar species can be included in a genus and a number of similar genera can be included in a family (Tetraodontidae in our case).

While revisiting a number of Asian puffer species 2000-2005 a scientist named Kottelat came to the conclusion that there are differences between the Asian puffers and the African ones, that allow to put the Asian ones into their own genus. The name is Monotrete and one important character that separates them from their African cousins are the nostrils/narines, which at a closer look are different.

Have such a close look at the narines of your T. lineatus, T. mbu and T. miurus and compare them to M. turgidus, M. palembangensis and M. abei. I'm sure you'll notice some differences, too.

Thank you Corvus, that gives me something to work with. I have to be honest, I have just been throwing them all into the same boat and calling them all "Tetraodon" instead of Monotrete, because I didn't think it really mattered. I indeed intend to have a look at my puffers so I can see what you're talking about, but I appreciate you taking the time to explain it in a way that I can understand it.

Cheers!

Having watched two GSP grow up for several years now, never crowded, I often wonder if they might be separate species. Jillybean has not caught up with Shakespeare in size really, and they've never been crowded, by the 2/3's standard for tank sizes(once the totally inches of puffer are 2/3 of what the tank can hold, it's time for an upgrade; so once I had 4" between the two they went from 30 to 45 gallons, and once they combined to 6" they went to a 72 with a 30 gallon sump, for some overkill. Of course, now that my fiance brought in another puffer, it looks like we're going to go for a 180 by next year). The two also seem to have slightly differently shaped heads, Shakespeare's is more torpedo-like, and Jilly has more of a block head. Other differences are less sure, but it seems Jilly ALWAYS has a white belly, while Shakespeare's changes with lighting and location in the tank.

Nick wrote:Having watched two GSP grow up for several years now, never crowded, I often wonder if they might be separate species.

dito.

I too have watched GSP from different sources, freshly caught and imported with plenty of room and good feedings, high salinityand pristine water, but totally different growth and appearance with age.

I'd not be surprised if they turn out to be different regional variants, subspecies or really separate species.

In addition if someone knows the works by Dekker, there are at least three Asian black spotted greenish species described with possibly not so well understood characters for differentiation: T. sabahensis, T. kretamensis and T. nigroviridis.