All fish / Tetraodontidae

Immaculate Puffer

Arothron immaculatus

Also known as blackedged puffer, black-edged puffer, immaculate pufferfish, yellow-eye puffer, bronze puffer, ปลาปักเป้า, buntal, サザナミフグ, 无斑叉鼻鲀, 无斑河鲀

A plump, greyish brown puffer with a pale belly and a dark edge to its rounded tail fin. It is kept for its inquisitive, dog-like behaviour and the way it learns to recognise its keeper. It lives in seagrass beds, estuaries and lagoons and often tolerates slightly brackish water.

Care at a glance

Care level

Moderate

Temperament

Semi

Adult size

25 cm

Temperature

24 to 28 °C

pH

8.1 to 8.4

Smallest tank

400 litres

Keep as

Keep singly

Diet

Carnivore: shelled foods such as clams, mussels, cockles, shrimp, crab and snails to wear down the beak

Swims

Bottom of the tank

Lifespan

8 to 10 years

Water

Marine (saltwater)

Wild range

Indo-West Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa to Indonesia, the Philippines and southern Japan

Breeding

It scatters eggs in the wild, and there are no reliable records of captive breeding. Home aquariums are not set up for it.

Good to know

It will eat invertebrates and nip slow fish, so it does not suit reef tanks. Its flesh and organs contain tetrodotoxin, so never eat it and handle it with care. Its teeth keep growing and need hard shelled foods, or trimming if they get too long.