The Puffer Forum

I saw a really odd porcupine puffer in the LFS today (All About Fish, Concord, CA). First off, he was a richer, deeper cinnamon color than most pics I've seen of Diodon holocanthus, despite the fact he was obvoiusly very sick (ich or velvet or something, and he was curled up in the corner). When I looked at him more closely, I saw that instead of spines in some places, he had short, multifingered "fronds" of honey-colored flesh. They were symmetrically placed in about a dozen spots across his body, so I think they were bits of him rather than, say, some horrible worm infestation. I did not have a camera at the time, but I could draw you a picture and scan it if you would like. Any idea what kind of puff this could have been?

Weird, sounds much like a baileyi.

Hmmm. Very interesting.

Perhaps you could get a picture? A drawing would be ok too.

OK! Here is a sketch. He was in the SW section with some other SW fish:



It's not exactly right. I do have a photographic memory, but the "photos" are always slightly out of focus, unfortunately. I'm pretty sure the fronds were placed as in the sketch, but there may have been more on his belly or other places that I did not notice or see. Also I'm not sure I captured the exact shape, but I do remember they had three short fingers, the middle of which was longer than the two side fingers. The fronds were kind of flattened, rising away from his body, and though softer than his spines they didn't wave or flutter in the current. Hope this helps!

Do you think it could have been dyed?

I don't think so. Why dye a fish natural cinnamon and honey browns when you could make him violently purple or something? The dyed fish I've seen are usually extremely flashy. This guy looked pretty natural. In the sketch I used the closest brown I could find in my pencil box, but on reflection it should be a more subdued cinnamon than the color it's showing up as--more orange, less bluish red. Unfortunately I can't be exact with only 24 colors in my box.

I wish I could get you guys a real picture, but the LFS is kind of a long trip away. I'll see what I can do!

This type of coloring/appendages is often seen from the holocanthus from Hawaii.

So what is the reason or purpose for them?

Probably a camouflage "technique" - similar to the cirri on seahorses and other species?

Cool! Thanks for solving the mystery, Puffer Queen!

I have seen the same type befor I wanted to buy him

Based off your sketch, that puffer looks very similar to my porc (BTW, nice drawing).

Dan

Do you know which region Phillip was caught from? Maybe he is a Hawai'ian puff, like Puffer Queen mentioned.

PS: Thanks. It was my first ever attempt at drawing a pufferfish.

I have no idea, but just wanted to say very nice drawing! Especially considering its from memory!!