Valentini Puffer Fish Queries

T

tuannie

New Member
Hey everyone,

I have some enquiries in regards to the valentini puffer fish. I have just purchased one from the shop and would like to know more information about them. If someone have a good link about them could please let me know.

Just incase that if anyone that doesn't know what they are look I have attached a link:

http://fins.actwin.com/species/index.php?t=9&i=387

My next question is, is this fish poisonous? Would it be safe for me to put my hand into the tank to do a regular maintenance.

Any informations regarding this fish information would be much appreciated.

Regards,
tuannie
 
Cougra

Cougra

Well-Known Member
One thing to remember about Pufferfish is that thier beaks will grow continuously throughout their lives. They need to have the occassional hard to eat foods such as crustations, echinoderms and shelled molluscs in their diets to help them grind their beaks down. Some pufferfish will eat coraline algae, SPS and LPS corals as well as break apart live rock in search for food and to wear their beaks down. If the pufferfish doesn't have anything hard in it's diet their beaks can overgrow preventing them from feeding properly.

They also have very strong jaws that can easily break rocks and bones. Becareful not to let the fish bite you!
 
Boomer

Boomer

Reef Sanctuary's Mr. Wizard
Only if this fish is eaten is it poisonous.

That is not so. The can release tetrodotoxin into the watrer killing everything in the tank at times if they die, it depends.

Tetrodotoxin Chemistry
http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/ttx/ttx.htm


This is interesting
The puffer fish is one of the better known marine animals to contain tetrodotoxin within its body because it causes many human deaths. The scientific name of puffer fish is tetraodontidae. It is native to the waters off Japan and particularly the Pacific Ocean. Interestingly, the puffer fish got its name from a defense mechanism it possesses. It is able to fill up its stomach with water or air through a special oral valve attached to the bottom of its mouth (WWW 6). The puffer fish first fills its mouth with water and then using a large muscle at the base of the mouth forms a tight seal so that the water cannot escape. The fish then uses a highly modified gill arch called a branchiostegal ray that forces the water through the puffer fish’s esophagus and down into its stomach. Dr. Peter Wainwright was the first to explain the mechanism of this peculiar trait. However, it is not specifically known how the water or air is ejected. This defense mechanism allows the puffer fish one method to scare off potential predators because it cannot swim very fast. Interestingly, it has been known that the bare hands of a diver can catch puffer fish

Box fish, related to puffers and in the same family,Ostraciidae, can actually release their toxin into the water as a defense mechanism

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