by Beth Benson

Created on: October 15, 2008   Last Updated: October 25, 2008

We've all seen a Puffer Fish familiarly placed on cartoons and also on Disney's "The Little Mermaid". They are those little fish that are characterized to blow on a horn and puff up into a huge round fish up to five times their normal size or they are portrayed to puff up and float away. Cute, funny little thing, huh? Sadly, a Puffer Fish isn't as cute as animators make them out to be.

Puffer Fish are also called blowfish, bubblefish, and puffers. These marine fish are related closely to the porcupinefish. Some, but not all of the Puffer Fish have spikes on their skin. Many biologists believe that because the Puffer Fish do not have efficient swimming skills, this makes them easy prey for predators. This is where the puff comes in with the Puffer Fish. Their stomach has the ability to stretch several times their normal size to ingest huge amounts of water and air fairly quickly to scare off predators. The Puffer Fish that have spikes on their skin only add to the likelihood that a predator will not choose them as a quick snack.

If a predator does decide to get brave and try to stomach a Puffer Fish, he's going to get a mouth full of tetrodotoxin, a substance that is said to be over a thousand times more poisounous than cyanide. The Puffer Fish ejects tetrodoxin causing a lethal and bad tasting surprise for the predator. Tough luck for the predator because there is no known antidote to the tetrodoxin, and tough luck for humans too because one little Puffer Fish has enough poison to kill a few dozen human adults. But of course there are some predators out there that like the taste of the Puffer Fish and that includes humans. In Japan and Korea, this fish is considered a delicacy, and people actually eat it with the knowledge that if it isn't prepared properly they can die.

Unless you live near the shallows of the Atlantic and Pacific Seas, you will rarely spot a Puffer Fish. However if you do, you'll notice that many of them have very bright colors and unmistakable markings. Be careful though, these fish may be small, up to 1 inch long, however there are some Puffer Fish that can grow up to three feet long.

If you ever decide to give your aquarium home to a Puffer Fish, make sure that your tank has a lid on it. Puffer Fish are fast swimmers and like to take swimming jumps launching themselves out of the tank. If you get more than one Puffer Fish, don't think it's going to be a cute and cuddly match. Most Puffer Fish are very aggressive towards each other. Their teeth are sharp and beaklike, and they aren't afraid to use it. Puffer Fish are very carnivorous. They will eat everything from small crustaceans to corals, to even sea urchins. Anything with a shell is great for a Puffer Fish to crush and grind up; it also helps them sharpen their teeth.

All and all, with over 150 species of Puffer Fish, they are better off living in their natural habitats of tropical oceans instead of confined into a tank where they would be tempted to escape. The Puffer Fish is a perfect example of how beauty can be deadly.

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