The Puffer Forum

Why no substrate? Could you post a FTS? Does he have a cave?

Well I chose no substrate because I wasn't sure what I was going to do with the tank(what fish I would most likely keep in the long run) so I decided to keep it bare. I will be adding PFL sand though, and yes he has a cave. You can't see it in the pictures since he was roaming the other side which was the reason I decided to snap some shots, it's a broken half of a clay jug thats been in my other tanks. He mostly sleeps under his cave day in day out. He's eaten some blood worms and some thawed krill. I measured him while he was near the glass and he actually measures a tiny bit over 3 in. I hope i've been doing everything correctly to make him happy.

Sounds good, just get him some substrate so he won't be too uncomfortable & plants for cover. He may stay out more then.

Thanks!!

very cute puff

Thank you! Any guesses at ID now?

Corvus is the ID expert here but I think if the spot is red at all, it's a Fang's (cochinchinensis).

I'd also say M. cochinchinensis, because the target is very different from all other spots and "stands out", and because the snout is relatively short. An older name for them was "short snouted" leiurus (T. leiurus brevirostris) by the way. Another old name was T. fangi, which is still used as a part of an English common name (Fang's puffer).

And I think future changes of the taxonomy of the "target puffers" are not improbable, either.

Am I correct to say if the spot is red it's the cochinchinensis or could it be another?

A juvenile M. turgidus can have a small reddish target spot, too, but the target would by far not be that big in my opinion.
I don't think the target color is very helpful here.

I take this information also from the book "Fishes of Laos" by Kottelat, the scientist, who described the species M. turgidus. This book has small comparison pictures for M. turgidus and M. cochinchinensis.

He is a very handsome puffer!

Bought this guy at random at the fish store today and was told this is what he was. Could I get a positive ID one way or another? Sorry for the walrus pictures

Edit - pictures were way to big see below for direct links

http://i.imgur.com/sVkjH.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/N4fZ7.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/bw3Ai.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/bw3Ai.jpg

PolishPuff wrote:

Sorry edited the super huge pictures.

Upon further research he looks closer to a brown puffer but Ill let the experts decide. I got crabs to start him off with but I think Im going to switch to snails and frozen cause their claws are a bitch to take off.