The Puffer Forum

Hi there! im about to start an ampliation for my fish room, and i see some Carinotetraodon species that i dont recognize...

¿Can you help me do ID it?

This is the guy:


i believe it is a Irrubesco female but no so sure...

From this one picture, I'd agree. However, if this puffer is very small it could be a male, at small sizes you cannot tell them apart.

Really? i didn't knew the size also affected on the ID This fish is at 5 cm (2")... at least we are sure about it being a C. Irrubesco...
It is also hard to tell apart irrubesco and lorteti female.

Okay at this size I'm quite positive it's a girl.

But at smaller sizes (around and below an inch) the males and the females look alike.

C. lorteti females don't have that many darker lines on the belly. Don't trust google pictures here too much, use the ID key by (I think) Tan Heok Hui.

She's very healthy!

Thanks for the Dr. Heok literature recommendation, i´ve heard it has no picture compassion but has very good textual tips to tell both species & female appart.

Good to know that C. Irrubesco juveniles are quite similar, wait, almost indistinguishable.
At that size, red tailed males are already easy to see, so that will be the hint to my provider, that way i will not receive females or males only ñ_ñ

¿How bigger must be a C. Irrubesco tank, maybe for a trio (1M, 2F)?

I'd choose at least 180 l (about 45 gallons). And use lots of plants, in my experience there was always one dominant puffer (mostly males, sometimes a strong female) chasing the others around.

Just had the paper in hands, there are photographs of female (and male) C. irrubesco, but no comparison photographs for other species. In addition, there are drawings (for the males only), which show how the 4 species (Carinotetraodon spp. without the dwarves) can be told apart. There's also a ID key for males and females. Feel free to drop me a mail if you need more info.

PP how you know that gal is healthy? is there some color indicator like in the gsp?

I had an empty 150 liter tank, do you think i could fit them there? there is a lot of natural FW plants coming next monday to my farm, i think i could make a dense planted tank for these guys if you think it could work on that water volume.

About the pappers, corvus, i´m a voracious lector so i will be very grateful if you can share them with me.

Personally, I would prefer a pair instead of a trio, but that's just what I would choose. It may work with three, too, but sometimes you get really nasty females of this species, which are bullying the other females. This will not happen with a just pair of similar age and even an aggressive female is unlikely to kill an equally aged male.

I see a very aggressive profile for this fish, i will go for the pair, i dont want to risk another gal... tank size is 85(Large)X40(high)X50(width), fully planted i calculate 150lt.