#dwarf pufferfish

[pikaole]

Pea puffers

[randomanimaloftheday]

Day 269#: Dwarf Pufferfish

Today's animal of the day is the Dwarf Pufferfish (Carinotetraodon travancoricus)!

Photo credit: Parazelsus on DeviantArt

Also known as the pygmy or pea pufferfish, this small species of freshwater pufferfish is native to the rivers, lakes, and estuaries in the Indian states of Kerala and southern Karnataka. There are currently 27 known species of freshwater pufferfish, all of which tend to be much smaller than their ocean-dwelling relatives, but the dwarf puffer is one of the smallest of all the puffers, and only grows a little over an inch long. Both males and females are a greenish-yellow color with numerous iridescent dark green and brown patches scattered across their bodies. Females tend to be a little larger, but males are more brightly colored and have some iridescent blue wrinkly patterns around their eyes, as well as a dark stripe running down their bellies.

Photo credit: eSHa Aquarium Products

Like all pufferfish, they can inflate themselves by ingesting a large amount of water into their super stretchy stomachs. This not only makes it harder for predators to swallow them, but also causes the many spines that cover their bodies to become erect and make them even more unappetizing. If this doesn't work, they are also extremely poisonous thanks to a deadly neurotoxin found in the surface layer of their skin, and also their ovaries and livers. There currently isn't any antidote for this toxin, so I wouldn't recommend swallowing these little cuties.

Photo credit: Starseed

Dwarf pufferfish prefer to live in areas with lots of vegetation for them to hide in and search for prey, which includes tiny freshwater shrimp, insect larvae, snails, and many other types of aquatic invertebrates. They've also been observed eating plant matter, like green algae, on a semi-regular basis. Unlike oceanic puffers, this species is fairly social and can often be found swimming in large groups. In fact, being alone seems to really stress them out, and they've been known to rapidly lose weight in aquariums when they're kept alone or in a school that's too small.

Photo credit: Gábor Horváth

This species was first described in 1941 by Indian ichthyologist K. Krishnan Nair, who would often find his children outside catching these tiny fish for fun. Before that, these puffers weren't really given much thought or attention, and were actually thought to be just some weird type of tadpole by many of the local fishermen. Since then, they've become quite popular in aquaria since they're adorable with their giant puppy dog eyes and are relatively easy to care for. Sadly, overharvesting of this species for the pet trade, as well as habitat loss, has caused the wild population to decrease significantly, and they are now listed as a vulnerable species by the IUCN.

[fishyfishyfishtimes]

Daily fish fact #479

Dwarf pufferfish!

Also called a pea puffer or a pygmy puffer, their names reference their very small size: the maximum size that the species reaches is 3.5 cm (1.4 inches)! Unlike other pufferfish, the juvenile individuals of this species enjoy socialising and living in shoals in the wild.

[i-give-you-a-fish]

How get fish?

Like this

You get a Dwarf Pufferfish

Carinotetraodon travancoricus

[little-creature-of-the-day]

little creature of the day: pea pufferfish

puffer fisher so cute

image source

[shadsasaur]

I had a dream where I got a pufferfish, plopped it in a 10gal and named it Plumboy. after decided that was probably a prophetic dream and setting up a tank, it turns out you can safely keep 3 peapuffers in a 10g, and that was exactly the number of remaining peapuffers at the fishmongers. so oops! here's Plumboy, Dewberry and Bakeapple.

[cryptidscreatures]

I finally, after over a year of wanting them, got dwarf pufferfish! These are my new children. I love them so much already. They're going to be getting more plants today and they're already eating for me.

U G H. I love them so much.

[green-algae]

Feeding captive dwarf pufferfish [Carinotetraodon travancoricus] blackworms using a feeder built from a pipette.