At the first sign of danger, pufferfish transform themselves into Swimming balloons. If the threat persists, these flexible fish can change color to blend in with their surroundings, and if cornered, make an aggressive move to chase enemies or rivals away. If a predator sees through all these tricks and still bites them, pufferfish fight back by releasing toxins, which are even strong enough to kill people!
Puff Daddy: These fish got their name from their defensive behavior of puffing up their bodies to look bigger. If threatened by a predator, pufferfish suck water into their stomachs, which can swell to double their normal size.
In the Skin: Puffing up isn't this fish's only defense. If an attacker ignores a pufferfish's warning, it might end up dead. A puffer's skin, blood and some of its organs contain powerful poisons that can paralyze larger fish and stop their bodily functions.
Eat at Your Own Risk[]
Some pufferfish can change color to cammouflage [sic] themselves from enemies.
The toxins in a pufferfish's body are the same as those found in the deadly blue-ringed octopus. Some people in Japan like to eat pufferfish, despite the dangers; they call the dish fugu. Chefs must be specially trained in order to prepare fugu, as the removal of the poisonous organs requires the delicacy of a surgeon. At best, a person who eats well-prepared pufferfish will notice a tingling sensation on their lips, caused by small amounts of the toxins. At worst, eating this fish can be deadly. About 50 people die every year after dining on fugu.
Color Coordinated: Most pufferfish have colorful patterns on their bodies that help them blend in with coral and plants in coral reefs. Some species can even change the color of their skin to hide from potential enemies.
Bite Me: A pufferfish's teeth are fused together to form a beak-like structure, which it uses to crunch through hard coral and the shells of crustaceans and shellfish. These fish also bite the fins of other fish to drive them away from their territory.
Back Off, Puffer[]
- Two pufferfish encounter each other while feeding, and neither wants the other in its way. The fish raise their comb-like dorsal fins to scare each other away.
- The fish puff up their bodies and swim upside down, trying to look as big and threatening as possible.
- If neither puffer budges, the fish bite at each other. One gets a few good nips on the other's fin, forcing it to leave the area and search for food elsewhere.
Trading Card[]
Trivia[]
- The species used on the card is the Valentine's Pufferfish (Canthigaster valentini).
- The pufferfish is one of three fish in Toxic Terrors, along with Stingrays and Striped Catfish.
- The mini section on the front, "Puff Daddy", is the stage name of Sean Combs (a.k.a. P Diddy).
- It shares this subheading with Gigantic Lace Monitor.
- In the caption for the back image, an extra ‘m’ was added to 'camouflage'.
- The illustrations for "Back Off, Puffer" are also used in the Wildlife Explorer card. Here, titled "Blown out of Proportion", there is an extra first image of the two pufferfish encountering each other.
- The pufferfish is featured in Toxic Trouble on Monster Mania 91.