The Puffer Forum

Please assist me in proper identification.



Arothron mappa?





Some kind of Auriglobus?





Auriglobus?





Diodon hystrix?





Diodon hystrix?

#1)Starry puffer
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm ... cleid=1854

#2) A silus

#3) A modestus

Thanx PP.

After some reading I've concluded that the 1st pic is indeed a juvenile A. stellatus.
Dr. Ebert writes that juvenile specimens was formerly thought to be a different species altogether (Arothron aerostaticus).
They have very attractive colorations as young specimen and this, (quote Dr. Ebert) may trick the unwary into buying this eventually HUGE puffer.

But what a beautiful fish...

I'm starting to think that all the puffers marked as modestus in the PP are silus too. Here's my modestus:




Note, it's heavier-boddied & not as shiny.

The last one looks like a Spiny Box Puffer (Chilomycterus schoepfi).

Mine looks exactly like it.

Here is a picture I got off the internet. I will post the direct link later. I remember finding this image while using "google for images" This is what my puffer fish looks like exactly. If anybody has any other opinion please let me know in case I have ID my puffer wrong.



I pretty sure it is the same puffer.

The spines on my puffer are always erect and i really can't tell if they are erect or not in the picture.

I hope this helps somewhat

Woland,

It would really help on some of these pics if you could tell us where the picture was taken (what ocean)

1. Juvenile Arothron mappa (ring/circles around eye and spots instead of lines on abd differentiate it from juvenile stellatus)

2. I am not good with fresh or brackish puffer ID

3. I am not good with fresh or brackish puffer ID

4. Definitely not hystrix - probably just a variation of a holocanthus.


5. Definitely not hystrix - Depending on ocean and perhaps a better/lighter pic......my first "guess" is
variation of a holocanthus - possibly a nichthemerus variation??

I didn't realize the mappa was so yellow. Thanks for the correction Kelly, I guess I should leave the SW puffs to you!

On the second pic, is that puffer normally that yellow, or is it just the way then light hits it in the pic?

Well anyway, if the puffer in the second pic actually has orange/yellow coloring, it could possibly be X. naritus, which is differentiated from the Auriglobus genera by its yellow belly, rather then white. According to Dr.Ebert's book anyway, which I have studied thouroughly

Also, you can count the fin rays:

X. naritus: Dorsal fin rays: 35-36. Anal fin rays: 28-29

Auriglobus species: Dorsal fin rays: 22-28. Anal fin rays: 18-22

The above information is from Dr.Ebert's book as well.

Otherwise, I would say A. silus.

I agree with PP, the third picture is A. modestus.

Although honestly, the Auriglobus species are pretty hard to tell apart. In the Dr. Ebert's book, he lists the average number of fin rays for each genera, which is very helpfull.

You might be right.

The pictures was originally identified as Xenopterus naritus, but I felt bewildered.
It looked like an Auriglobus and the members of that group has never appealed to me in any way...
(Crucify me if you will! )

Dr. Ebert has Xenopterus naritus listed as Chonerhinos naritus and a brackish puffer.
Ian West's site says that it is freshwater...

Anyone had any experience with the fish?

Well, as far as I know, they are extremely rare and get big.

I don't have any actual experience with them, but I have read that they are brackish. I beleive that Chonerhinos is the old classification, and the new one is Xenopterus.

As i'm sure you know, X. naritus gets quite a bit bigger then A. silus or A. modestus.

I guess one way to find out is to wait and see if it gets really, big which could take a while and might not be possible if kept in FW. It might need BW to grow big if it is indeed a X. naritus

Personally, I am very excited about this. The Auriglobus and Xenopterus genera are my favorite puffers, and once I get out of college, I plan to do tons of research on these guys, including trying to get a pairing.

Is this your puffer? (Do you own it). And if you do, do you want to sell it?