The Puffer Forum

My impression is that puffers seem to have more intelligence and reasoning capacity compared with other species of fish.

Their careful scanning of objects while hunting, and obvious awareness of the outside (dry) world seems exceptional.

As I've never personally kept a puffer, I'm basing my opinion on what I've observed on video or while scuba diving.

( The only thing I've ever kept in an aquarium that impressed me with raw brain power was an octopus.)

Are puffers really "smarter" than other fish, or do they just look that way ?

What say ye ?

I can only compare puffers with my other aquatic passion, fancy goldfish. And yeah, the puffers win in the I.Q. department, hands (fins?) down.

Compared to a lot of fish puffers are indeed smarter. There are other fish that have similar intelligence but I've only found a few

Thanks for your input, Pufftastic and bertie 83.

When one looks at a typical Puffer, the large shape if the head seems to dominate the animal's frame.
Perhaps there's a larger brain in there compared to most other species of aquarium fish ?

It might also help to explain their huge appetite. More grey matter requires more protein to function.

grup wrote:It might also help to explain their huge appetite. More grey matter requires more protein to function.

Heh. If that was the case, my fancy goldfish would be the Einsteins of the aquatic world. And trust me, they ain't. But they're starving 24/7 and have enormous heads.

Pufftastic wrote:

grup wrote:It might also help to explain their huge appetite. More grey matter requires more protein to function.

Heh. If that was the case, my fancy goldfish would be the Einsteins of the aquatic world. And trust me, they ain't. But they're starving 24/7 and have enormous heads.

Point taken.

Mola Mola / Ocean Sunfish are ALL head, and pretty darn dumb.

My longnose hawkfish is incredibly smart, he jumps out the water onto the tank braces to try to get to the food pot, I rest it inside the hood whilst thawing and he recognises that. He has a small head but a huge brain, although he's yet to learn he cannot get the food, smart but not that clever I suppose lol

That is too funny, Bertie!!!

I will try to film it, he nips up onto the braces a few seconds later plops back into the tank next to where the food pot is. I have friends that love the little show he sometimes gives

I would put them in the medium range in terms of fish intelligence. They seem to be smarter than guppies and such, but some other fish species I have kept (mostly other predators) seemed to be smarter than puffers.

But puffers are certainly among those, which interact the most with their keepers, which makes them very easy to like.

I had a dogface puffer fish for 16 years and it is estimated at 17-18 years old when it passed away from what appeared to be skin cancer. It was a healthy fish until the last two days.

My puffer fish, Spot, was very intelligent. It knew us, its own name, and it could say hi. It knew good-bye when I waved my hand to show that I would be gone for a few hours. A dogface puffer fish is highly intelligent. The most precious part was it could love people back and be playful. I would say its intelligent level was similar to a cat, and it did act like a cat. For a few years, each day, it showed me something new. On the last day, it swam to us to show us where it was hurting and it told us good-bye. It died by my side. Spot was a valiant fish with a gentle and loving nature. I would never forget my experience with Spot. It brought me awareness of all animals and we should be kind to them. I am humbled by the care of him.

That said, puffer fish belong in the ocean. I only rescued him when he was not cared for. Puffers are not meant to blow up for our entertainment or be eaten. I am appalled at what others would do on YouTube.

I think every fish is different, and yes, puffer fish are highly intelligent.

L.H.

Thanks for telling us about Spot. I had a fahaka puffer Filbert, who lived 19 years.

Oh my gosh, Pufferpunk! When I first got Spot, I read all your posts in 2005 and learned how to take care of it. Instead of doing homework at the school lab, I would read your posts instead. Haha. This is amazing. You were my teacher, and it came full circle. Thank you!

I am so glad to find out how long a puffer fish can live. The average age of 5 years to 8 years for a dog face and 10 years for a puffer didn't sound right. Way to go Spot and Filbert!

I will support your forum. It does good work.

Awwww... thanks! It's interesting that fish can get skin cancer. How did you diagnose that?