Long-spine porcupinefish

Brown spots Hedgehog (Diodon holocanthus )

The brown stain porcupine fish ( Diodon holocanthus ) comes circumtropisch present in both the Indo-Pacific as well as in tropical and subtropical Atlantic. In the western Atlantic, its range from Canada to Bermuda extends to the coast of Brazil. In the eastern Atlantic it is found between 30 ° north and 23 ° south latitude and the coast of South Africa. It also occurs in Madagascar, Mauritius and Reunion in the southern Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. In the Pacific, he lives from southern Japan to Lord Howe Island and to Hawaii, on the Pacific coast of America, from southern California to British Columbia and at the Easter Islands.

Features

Brown spots hedgehog fish are half a meter long. From similar mask porcupine fish ( Diodon liturosus ) they differ by brown transverse bands and four black spots on the back. The first transverse band runs across the forehead from one eye to the other. In the Atlantic population, the spots are not very clearly developed. They instead have a large number of black spots. For pelagic juvenile fish and the fins wear spots, the ancients are spotless. Her long, sharp spikes they wear folded usually backwards. Only when they inflate, the spines depend on. The spines have three-piece roots. Between the nose and the beginning of the dorsal fin, they have 14 to 16 spines. The teeth in the upper and lower jaws are grown together without visible transition.

Fins formula: Dorsal 13-15, 13-15 anal

Way of life

Brown Patch porcupine fish are nocturnal and live solitarily on coastal reefs, rocky soils or soft soils in very shallow water up to 15 meters depth. Juveniles up to a length of six to nine centimeters living pelagic or hold under drifting Sargassum seaweeds and form small groups. Brown spots hedgehog fish feed on hard -shelled invertebrates such as snails, clams, sea urchins, crabs and hermit crabs. They are poor swimmers.