The Puffer Forum

Does any one keep the gulf coast puffer? I caught a whole bunch while in FLA and was wondering if they make good pets. No I did not bring any back. This was a few years ago.

What is a Gulf Coast puffer?

There are many, especially if you include the burrfish.

Go to: http://www.flworkshop.com/2003/kirkpatrick.pdf

The bottom of page 16 of 21 has a listing of members of the family found in FL waters. Further pages include some pictures.

At least the list should give you names to search on. Start with Fishbase.

HTH

So I guess it implies more than one puffer, which I was not expecting. I thought it was a specific puffer. Thanks for the link, RTR. It is good to know that I will be getting to dive with so many different puffers when I move to Florida.

Are Burrfish considered Puffers?
Id love one...
As Romeo loved Juliet!

They are all in the same family. The divisions used by hobbyists and by scientists do not necessarily coincide.

Consider our use of the term "pleco" - an invalid name for one member of the huge family of sucker-mouth catfish from South America. But we all know what we are talking about. The sciences just have tighter rules for for how you refer to groups of fishes.

How big do the Burrfish get in captivity?

Technically Bred is correct, Tetraodontiformes is an order comprising the puffers and filefishes in 9 separate families with the fusion of the teeth in plates common to the group, varying between families into how they are fused. But then we are being scientists and not hobbyists.

If anybody wants the real oddball in the group, figure out how to keep a captive Mola.

excuse my question... the puffer in question is also called the northern puffer. heres a pic. Now does any have or had THIS particular puffer?

My wife caught one last week fishing on the Gulf, but released it. I net-caught one baby and kept it in the motel for ~ a week - but that hardy counts.

Cool shots of one of the real oddballs! Thanks.

I find it disturbing that I knew what a Mola looked like. I've apparently watched/read too many National Geographics and Nova episodes.

I've not had one. In case you don't have a copy of Ebert's book handy the info is as follows… Sphoeroides maculatus/Northern Puffer is found in the west Atlantic waters around Canada and the USA. It is brackish as a juvenile but full marine as an adult; temp 64*F – 77*F; ph 7.5 – 8.0; bright light; grows to 14"; is difficult to keep; requires a tank in excess of 792 gallons.

Does anyone else think Ebert's suggested tanksize is a typo? The tank size he recommends for this Puff is bigger than what he recommends for a Mbu…

I nearly spat my coffee out when I hit that number... Must be a typo!

Don't bet on it - it could be, but an alternative is equally possible. Consider the Takifugu ocellatus. Has anybody tried 1000 gallons for the fish? Active pelagic fish need room. The Northern Puffer of our SE Gulf and East Atlantic Coast is a another very active fish. Many zoo animals which have difficulty adapting to captivity can be aided by space and complexity - sounds a lot like puffers to me...

I posted this on the old forum.Take a look


http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/p ... p?news=373