The Puffer Forum

Hi,

I bought a year ago a small puffer labelled as a dogface puffer called dave, but as he has grown he does not look like any of the other dogfaces or pictures i have seen . and looking at the puffer pedia he is very similar to the rectilaris.

I was wondering if these are particulary rare or unusual as i havent seen one in any lfs.

do dog faces have a jeuvenile coloration ?

or do i have an unusual puffer ?

I will try and get a photo but getting him to stay still is next to impossible.

any help would be greatfuly recieved.

I did the same i brought what was labeled as a dog face but turned out to be a reticulated puffer! he now lives at the national marine aquarium as i could not house him properly!
Seeing a pic would be good tho!

Some LFS call any true puffer a dogface. I have seen people call mine a stars and stripes dogface puffer. They may be in the same family but not the same species.

Puffers I've seen being confused with the Dogfaced (one locally): Arothron manilensis: Narrow Lined Puffer , Arothron diadematus: Masked Puffer , Sphoeroides annulatus: Bullseye Puffer (The later one starting to show up in the pet trade more frequently), not to mention the already mentioned Reticulated puffer. Pictures would make things much easier for us to identify him though even a not so good moving shot may help.

All Arothron species have been called Dog face in the trade. As Dadof4 noted please send some clear pictures for a proper ID.

About being rare: This depends on the catchers/importers. Sometimes you see few for some years and then there's an entire batch of 5 or more in one delivery.

However, given how big they grow and how few people have adequate tanks and the interest of keeping a large puffer, one might state that still too many are imported.

HI here are some photos, any help identifying him would be great.



I will make a video later which may be easier to see him from different angles as if he sees you he swims to the side of the tank and starts begging for food.

A. reticulatus

Many thanks for identifying him,

Welcome.

Ups, but I spelled it wrong: it's Arothron reticularis... I'm so tired.

Awww He's so cute!! Look at that belly, and his cheeks. I love his patterns.

he is one of my favorite fish, it eats everything so much so that i have to feed him first so hes nice a full and goes and sits on rock to digest his food then i can feed the other fish or they loose out.

If its hungry it splashes around and spits water to get your attention, they do seem an easier species to keep there teeth worn down as they really enjoy cracking molusc shells etc.

He hopefully know i know what species he really is , going to be a monster, so i have a perfect excuse to setup my 8ft aquarium again!!! although as this was freshwater tank the extra equipment will be expensive.

I will post some more pics of him and my other fish tanks plus a video if i can. At this point i suppose i should introduce myself as havent posted here much..So hello everyone.

Welcome!

How big is that tank? What other fish are in there?

The tank is custom built octagon dimensions are 48 x 30 x 30 which is approx 150 uk gallons.
It has a lot of rock live and ocean base rock.
Filtered by a ehiem external and several flow pumps inside and a skimmer and Uv, And LED lighting

Fish in there:
reculated puffer
piccasso trigger
clowns
lemon peel angel
foxface

It my second marine tank i used to have a nano with just the clowns in.

My other tanks include

25 gallon - jewel cichlid tank
6ft - malawi tank
6ft - 28 "fire eel, synos, tilapia, parrot fish

nolang80... just wondering your feeding regimen. Always looking to improve mine. I feed clams, mussels, and shrimp. Also, how does your trigger interact with everybody. I always catch myself looking at the niger triggers but am never sure with my tomato clown and yellow tail damsel.