The Puffer Forum

Hey everybody my dad just called me to tell me his 10-11" golden puffer (Arothron meleagris) was dead when he got home from work today.

He was has been awesome eating great, no weird behavior since we got him 4-5 months ago then last night he didn't eat and today he was acting weird and then boom dead. When my dad got home this afternoon he said he was swimming upside down and then he puffed up completely and then he just died. He is going to come up to my house tonight and I think we are going to do an autopsy to see if maybe he had worms or internal parasites or something.

I hope you can find out what happened to him.

I never hear of anyone doing an autopsy on a puffer but I would probably do the same.

Yeah well it turns out the problem was he ate 4 blue leg hermit crabs whole and they tore up his stomach pretty good thus causing the stress. I have a pic of him puffed up I just have to get it scanned onto my comp monday.

My mom said when she got home he had some lumps on his side and we figure they were the crabs.

He swallowed them whole?!

You'd think a puffer would know to chew it's food 1st.

I've autopsied puffers. Very hard to cut thru their tough skin! Like leathery sandpaper.

I have done over 100+ necropsies on puffers and other fish as well. (not all mine - majority from friends and other hobbyists)

Did you take any pics?

Were there actually holes (perforations) in the stomach?

Sorry I didnt take anypics and if I had it wouldnt matter since my comp crashed and I lost everything.

There weren't any actual holes but there were alcerations and alot of them.

It wasn't the puffers fault or ours entirely as my dad had purchased a cleaner kit for his tank and they told him the crabs would be about 1-1 1/4" and we figured that he wouldn't be able to swallow them whole but when he got them they were only 1/2-3/4" but everything went great for about 2 weeks and then I guess he decided to eat them.

Without seeing the actual puffer, I can't say for sure.....but more than likely the puffer died from a bacterial infection not the inability to pass the crabs.

If there was a blockage, you will often see dilation of the intestines, enlarged gallbladder, necrosis, etc.

Ulcerations are often seen with internal infections. Bacteria such as vibrio can come on fast and often kill quickly. Buoyancy problems (swimming upside down) sounds like the bacteria affected multiple organs including the swim bladder.