Fish ID anyone?

[sytanek]

I do not have one of these, but have seen these before and was interested.


Thanks!

 

[chrisstie]

They almost look like some kind of puffer?

 

[thor32766]

they are puffers. I dont know the exact name of them. quite common around our coastal waters.

 

[sytanek]

Thanks, someone mentioned they might be least puffers.

regardless, kind of cool looking.

 

[Samala]

Maybe the Bandtail puffer, Sphoeroides spengleri? They are very common in the seagrass flats off of Florida.

>Sarah

 

[sytanek]

Thanks for the input Sarah, that was the other species I was considering, but could not find a really good picture of one.

 

[Samala]

Fishbase.org has a very good shot of this species.

>Sarah

 

[sytanek]

Awesome I found it, Looks like the little guy is pretty toxic...good thing I didn't really handle him, just dropped him back out of the net.

 

[seth16]

wow, how many of those do you have?lol.....are they reef safe? probably not, most all puffers are not, but HEY!, maybe htis one may not be "not" reef safe...

 

[pixiegirlie]

we saw those in west palm

 

[sytanek]

yeah thats where I saw them too

 

[Samala]

As far as I know the toxicity comes from ingesting the flesh from these guys, its probably related to the tetrodotoxins the other puffer fish have. I really hope its not possible to contract any of the toxin from handling it. Otherwise, I should be a goner.

On a related note, some reports of toxicity from pufferfish has been traced back to saxitoxin, which is actually derived from marine dinoflagellates. And there is a growing body of evidence that shows that tetrodotoxin isnt actually produced by the fish, but actually comes from several different genus of bacteria. Crazy web of trophic interactions in the watery realm.

>Sarah

 

[sytanek]

lol, well thanks for clearing that up!!

I wonder if anyone has ever tried to keep one of these. It seems they don't get very big.

 

[cowboyswife]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9813074#post9813074 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Samala
As far as I know the toxicity comes from ingesting the flesh from these guys, its probably related to the tetrodotoxins the other puffer fish have. I really hope its not possible to contract any of the toxin from handling it. Otherwise, I should be a goner.

On a related note, some reports of toxicity from pufferfish has been traced back to saxitoxin, which is actually derived from marine dinoflagellates. And there is a growing body of evidence that shows that tetrodotoxin isnt actually produced by the fish, but actually comes from several different genus of bacteria. Crazy web of trophic interactions in the watery realm.

>Sarah

I wish I knew half of what you do!

 

[lifesworksataol]

so your saying if my eel eats him it might be bad?

 

[cowboyswife]

LOL!!