Have you seen the HUGE Porcupine Puffer at SeaLife?

[AZBigJohn]

I have a HUGE soft spot in my heart for porcupine puffers, and always have. Love the personality and had one that I loved in my FOWLR tank forever and was devastated when I lost them (and all my fish) many years ago.

I took my youngest grand daughter to SeaLife at the Arizona Mills (as well as hitting some of the Tempe Aquarium Stores) last week, and they have the biggest Porcupine puffer I have ever seen (and according to the person feeding them, the biggest she has ever encountered as well!)

First, the obligatory cute granddaughter shot, because the stroller is in one of the pictures of the puffer, so this gives some scale:



Yes, that's Khloe - 9 months old, and already addicted to watching Papa's fishes...

Here is the "head shot" of the porcupine puffer...



And here is a full body shot. That is a fairly decent-sized sea turtle above it for size comparison. This thing has got to be almost a full 20" long!



I hadn't been to SeaLife in quite a while (since just after they opened) and was quite surprised with how much they have added. I still think their basic admission price is a bit much, but since discounts are fairly easy to find, it is definitely well worth the trip! (and kids under 3 are free!)

 

[zrogst]

Thanks for sharing!

I much prefer the atmosphere over at World Wildlife Zoo, but it's quite the trek to get out there. I got the chance last week and snapped a shot of their HUGE stars and stripes puffer:

 

[xanthurum]

Saw a porcupine puffer on a dive in Bonaire (right next to Aruba) at about 130 feet down. I swear it was 15 inches from mouth to the tip of the tail.
That stars and stripes is no joke. I use to volunteer there since it is so close to me an he was big 2 years ago!

 

[Weyrman]

I was at SeaLife Aquarium on Wednesday with my grand daughter. I saw that Puffer too. It was huge! And there were a number of large specimens in a other fish categories as well.

It had been almost a year since I'd been there. The displays and water clarity were great!

 

[zrogst]

I don't know about Sealife, but I understand WWZ takes a lot of animal "donations" (people who didn't expect their pets to get so big or live so long); Probably why they have so many exotic birds.