Spotted Porcupinefish

Spotted porcupine fish ( Diodon hystrix )

The Spotted or Common porcupine fish ( Diodon hystrix ) comes circumtropisch before both Indo-Pacific and in the tropical and subtropical Atlantic and the Mediterranean. In the Indo-Pacific, he lives in South Africa, Madagascar, Mauritius and Réunion to Japan, Hawaii, California, Lord Howe Island and Easter Island. In the western Atlantic Bermuda extends its range of coastal Massachusetts ' over the northern Gulf of Mexico to Brazil. However, it is absent in the Bahamas and in many parts of the Caribbean. In the eastern Atlantic it is found between 30 ° north and 23 ° south latitude. In addition, it is found in the Red Sea. The construction of the Suez Canal, the Spotted porcupine fish has become native to the southeastern Mediterranean.

Way of life

The fish always live near the coast, such as in lagoons and outer reefs, at depths ranging from one to 50 meters. Juveniles are pelagic, until a length of eight inches, they move on to the benthic life of older animals.

Dotted porcupine fish are solitary and nocturnal. During the day they stay in caves and crevices hiding or resting in open water high above the ground. They feed on hard -shelled invertebrates such as snails, clams, sea urchins, crabs and hermit crabs.

Features

Dotted porcupine fish are the largest members of their family and are almost a meter long. The body is gray, mottled brownish and, like the fins, patterned with many black dots. Her long sharp spikes they wear folded usually backwards. Only when they inflate, the spines depend on. Also, the tail fins stem is thorny. The teeth in the upper and lower jaws have grown together without visible transition ( merged ) ( diodon " double tooth " hystrix " porcupine "). They swim mainly by recoil of the respiratory water ( gill opening eng), partly by undulations of the sessile Pectoral fins.

Fins formula: Dorsal 14-17, Anal 14-16, pectoral 16