Porcupinefish: Difference between revisions

| image = Pindsvinefisk Diodon holocanthus.jpg

| image_caption = ''[[Diodon holocanthus]]''

| subdivision_ref = <ref name="Matsuura2014">{{cite journal |last1=Matsuura |first1=Keiichi |date=January 2015 |title=Taxonomy and systematics of tetraodontiform fishes: a review focusing primarily on progress in the period from 1980 to 2014 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10228-014-0444-5 |journal=Ichthyological Research |volume=62|issue=1|pages= 72–113 |doi=10.1007/s10228-014-0444-5 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

'''Porcupinefish''' are medium-to-large [[fish]] belonging to the family '''Diodontidae''' from the order [[Tetraodontiformes]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Diodontidae/classification/ |title=Diodontidae: Classification |date=2023 |last1=Myers |first1=P.|last2=Espinosa |first2=R. |last3=Parr |first3=C. S. |last4=Jones |first4=T. |last5=Hammond |first5=G. S. |last6=Dewey |first6=T. A. |website=Animal Diversity Web |publisher=[[University of Michigan]] Museum of Zoology |access-date=1 April 2023 }}</ref> which are also commonly called '''blowfish''' and, sometimes, '''balloonfish''' and '''globefish'''. The family includes about 18 species. They are sometimes collectively called '''pufferfish''',<ref name=AF>{{cite book|editor=Cooke, J.|author=Mills, D.|year=1993|title=Aquarium Fish|publisher=Dorling Kindersley|location=San Diego|pages=[https://archive.org/details/aquariumfish00mill_0/page/281 281]|isbn=1-56458-293-0|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/aquariumfish00mill_0/page/281}}</ref> not to be confused with the morphologically similar and closely related [[Tetraodontidae]], which are more commonly given this name.

They are found in shallow, temperate, and tropical seas worldwide. A few species are found much further out from shore, wherein large schools of thousands of individuals can occur.<ref name="AM">{{cite web |url=https://australian.museum/learn/animals/fishes/diodontidae-porcupinefishes/ |title=Diodontidae - Porcupinefishes |date=18 June 2022<!-- fr pg source -->|website=Animal factsheets |publisher=[[Australian Museum]] |access-date=1 April 2023 }}</ref><ref name=EoF>{{cite book |last1=Matsuura |first1=K. |last2=Tyler |first2=J.C. |editor-last1=Paxton |editor-first1=J.R. |editor-last2=Eschmeyer |editor-first2=W.N. |year=1998 |title=Encyclopedia of Fishes |location=San Diego, California, USA |publisher= Academic Press |pages= 231 |isbn= 0-12-547665-5}}</ref>

== Characteristics ==

Porcupinefish are generally slow-moving.<ref name=EoF/>

They have the ability to inflate their bodies by swallowing water or air, thereby becoming rounder. This increase in size (almost double vertically) reduces the range of potential predators to those with much bigger mouths. A second defense mechanism is provided by the sharp spines, which radiate outwards when the fish is inflated.

They have upper and lower teeth that fuse into a shape of a parrot's beak; they use this beak to eat [[molluscs]] and [[sea urchins]].<ref name="AM"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Dudley |first1=Gordon |last2=Sumich |first2=James |last3=Cass-Dudley |first3=Virginia L. |date=2011 |title=Laboratory and Field Investigations in Marine Life |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MgqFV_YQNXUC&pg=PA159 |publisher=Jones & Bartlett Publishers |location=Sudbury, Massachusetts, USA |isbn=978-1-4496-0501-8 |page=159 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ponder |first1=Winston Frank |last2=Lindberg |first2=David R. |last3=Ponder |first3=Juliet Mary |date=2019 |title=Biology and Evolution of the Mollusca |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UjL3DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA523 |publisher=CRC Press |location=Boca Raton, Florida, USA |isbn=978-1-351-11565-0 }}</ref>

Some species are poisonous, having [[tetrodotoxin]] in their internal organs, such as the ovaries and liver. This [[neurotoxin]] is at least 1200 times more potent than [[cyanide]]. The poison is produced by several types of bacteria obtained from the fish's diet.<ref>[[Ross Piper|Piper, R.]] (2007), ''Extraordinary Animals: An Encyclopedia of Curious and Unusual Animals'', [[Greenwood Press (publisher)|Greenwood Press]].</ref> As a result of these three defenses, porcupinefish have few predators, although adults are sometimes preyed upon by [[sharks]] and [[orca]]s. Juveniles are also preyed on by ''[[Lysiosquillina maculata]]'', [[tuna]], and [[dolphin]]s.<ref name=EoF/>

== Relationship with humans ==

=== Consumption ===

Porcupinefish are eaten as [[food fish]] and are an exotic delicacy in [[Cebu]], Philippines, where they are called ''tagotongan''. However, pufferfish can be dangerous to consume since they can cause [[tetrodotoxin]] poisoning.

==In popular culture==

The porcupine fish (as ''Diodon antennatus'') is mentioned in [[Charles Darwin]]'s famous account of his trip around the world, ''[[The Voyage of the Beagle]]''. He noted how the fish can swim quite well when inflated, though the altered buoyancy requires them to do so upside down. Darwin also mentioned hearing that a fellow naturalist, Dr. Allen of [[Forres]], had "frequently found a ''Diodon'', floating alive and distended, in the stomach of the shark; and that on several occasions he has known it eat its way, not only through the coats of the stomach, but through the sides of the monster".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Darwin |first1=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yURHAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA14 |title=Journal of Researches Into the Natural History and Geology of the Countries Visited During the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle Round the World: Under the Command of Capt. Fitz Roy |date=1845 |publisher=J. Murray |page=14}}</ref>

== See also ==

*[[List of marine aquarium fish species]]

== References ==

{{Reflist|30em}}