February Fish of the Month 2010

Common name: Fugu Puffer

Species name: Takifugu ocellatus

Synonym: Fugu Pufferfish, Fugu Puffer, Orange Saddle-back Puffer

Maximum size: 6 inches (15 cm)

Environment: Saltwater. While they are born in Freshwater streams they quickly migrate to the Ocean. They undergo a freshwater to brackish to marine change fairly quickly. It is recommended that if you buy a Fugu Puffer that is in Freshwater conditions that you acclimate them to Saltwater conditions within 7-10 hours. You will want to have an already cycled marine tank ready for them and acclimate them in a separate tank.

Origin: Asia: China & Vietnam. They can be found in the waters of Japan and off the coast of Kamchatka, Russia.

Temperament: Aggressive. Lurker, ambush predator. In an aquarium their behavior can be very erratic and care must be taken to ensure that décor cannot cause injury to a frightened puffer. They often leap out of the water in a fright and therefore covered tanks are a must.

Compatible Fish: Ideally there are no compatible fish for this puffer. Any other type of fish housed with a Fugu would likely become lunch.

Water parameters:
Temperature: 64.5-68°F – A chiller may need to be used to keep these fish at the proper temperature.
pH: not known
Specific Gravity: 1.019 - 1.022
Water Movement: They benefit from a steady, moderate current.

Aquarium setup: For a single Fugu Puffer you must have at least a 55 gallon tank. They are not reef safe nor are they compatible with any other fish. They may be able to be housed with another Fubu, but the tank would have to be several hundred gallons to ensure both fish’s safety.

Feeding: Fugu Puffers are carnivores. They eat anything and everything meaty that they can catch. They thrive when fed a diet of mussels, clams, shrimp, scallop, and other meaty ocean foods.

Breeding: Fugu Puffers have been successfully bred in China in large vats (1,500 gallons or larger) and have produced offspring. In the wild they swim upstream into freshwater to spawn and then back out to sea. An adult Fugu cannot live in Freshwater conditions for very long.

Interesting Factoids: Fugu Puffers are a highly sought after delicacy in China and around the globe due to the potential for their meat to be lethal if prepared incorrectly. The Fugu Puffer, like most other Puffer fish has a toxin called tetrodoxin which is found in its skin, blood, ovaries and especially its liver. Many people get a thrill out of eating a dish of this fish due to the risk entailed in ingesting it’s potentially deadly organs. Chefs must undergo a rigorous training process to even be able to prepare this food. It can take them 3 years to learn how to make fugu. It is a common practice that if a diner dies of the fugu a chef prepared then that chef must take his own life with the knife he used to prepare the fugu. The tetrodoxin essentially paralyses your entire body. There is no known antidote and within 4-6 hours you are dead. Very rarely if someone eats fugu and suffers the paralysis of a mis-prepared meal and they are hooked up to life support devices until the paralysis wears off they may survive. The first symptom is tingling of the lips and/or tongue.

Recently it was found that if the Fugu Puffers were bred and raised in captivity their meat did not possess the tetrodoxin and therefore was not deadly. They have concluded that the Pufferfish acquire this toxicity from eating foods in their natural environment. It is not likely that these non-lethal puffers will catch on in the food industry however, due to there being no risk involved in eating a potentially deadly meal.



Much of this information is from the following sources:

http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/library/puffers-in-focus/takifuguocellatus/

http://www.japanvisitor.com/index.php?cID=361&pID=367

http://www.thepufferforum.com/forum/ug.php/v/PufferPedia/Marine/T_Ocellatus/

http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/speciesSummary.php?ID=55081

Wow, i really like those little puffers ! Great choice of FOTM.. thanks for all the information. Congrats.

Great info! Thanks! They look like awesome little guys.

If anyone has one please post some pics!

WOW lol i was reading all the info and as i read i started imagining a mean looking sucker!!! tearing up other fish!
then i saw the pic!!!!!!!
hahahahaha they look harmless!!! lol
but i know now that looks can be dicieving (i think thats how u spell it) lol

KMX wrote:

If anyone has one please post some pics!

It's very doubtful that anybody has any of these in their tanks at home... but if they do I definitely want to see pics!!! They are very demanding in captivity, but I'm sure they are well worth the effort! The big puffer tank is a favorite of all my guests when they come over to my house... Everybody loves watching begging puffers!

i wonder how much one of these would cost?

nice fish