The Puffer Forum

Can puffers frown, or is that adorable smile permanently frozen on their even cuter faces?

I don't mean for like a split second. I mean, does a puffer have the capability of changing its facial expression?

Many animals do, but fish in general do not. Hobbyists interpret behavior as showing feelings rather than real facial expressions. Fish use color, body and /or fin movements to express "mood" more than small facial muscles.

Some fish do have specialized "mood" sytuctures or techniqus - usually warning - aechniques or structures. Think of Firemouth Cichlid males.

Cichlids & puffers have the cutest faces! That's why I love them both so much.

They're such unique fish. (-:3

RTR, I didn't mean if their emotions changed that their facial expressions would show it. I was just wondering if it could change, for whatever reason.

A puffer's version of subcutaneous muscles are quite unlike any fish not in their lineage. Most fish have musculature dedicated to propulsion and maneuvering along the length of their body. Puffers have super-elastic skin (and stomach) but propulsion is from fewer muscles attached to the spine and fins. They do not swim like other fish, and the ones which can swim fast (for a puffer - the whole family is considered slow) tend to larger and stronger caudal. dorsal & anal, and pectoral fins. That is all part of the ability to puff. Their subcutaneous muscles and extra stomach muscles ar to bull the body back down to standard (for this group of fish shape - but a lot of that is just pressure release and elasticity. They really are weird fish structurally and historically. Part of this likely involves their ultra-"clean" genomes. The ability to puff wa structurally quite expensive and radical. It blocks out a lot of small functions other fish can show in exchange for massive and radical structural alterations. But still they are a highly successful family - circumpolar in distribution and even re-adapted to FW in most major land masses. They are still largely tropical and subtropical. Few are temperate and none are cold water. If the oceans survive, they may expand further over geologic time. Their prey animals certainly are available there..,

Fish in general lack the small muscle facial movements we consider "expression" and rely on specialized structures and colors to show mood more than what we see in land animals including humans.

Balki's face never "frowns", it's always perma-smile, except while eating, his lips contort over the food, then back to the grin.
Certain puffers constantly "frown", it's just the shape of their mouth, but I don't prefer those because they look grumpy.
I know they aren't grumpy because of their mouth shape, but some of the frowned mouths are also just grumpy.

sevenyearnight wrote:Balki's face never "frowns", it's always perma-smile, except while eating, his lips contort over the food, then back to the grin.
Certain puffers constantly "frown", it's just the shape of their mouth, but I don't prefer those because they look grumpy.
I know they aren't grumpy because of their mouth shape, but some of the frowned mouths are also just grumpy.

lol i always think of bbgs as grumpy cause of their mouths XD its hard not to!

How about the grumpy miurus face?

Anything that red can have any expression it wants! Who could care against that color?

RTR wrote:Anything that red can have any expression it wants! Who could care against that color?

+1
Generally, I think the lurkers in a tank well, look like the other kind of lurkers lol, the red ones look magical.

Punkster