All fish / Tetraodontidae

Narrow-lined Pufferfish

Arothron manilensis

Also known as narrowlined puffer, narrow-lined puffer, striped puffer, manila puffer, lined puffer, stripebelly puffer, ปลาปักเป้าลายเส้น, buntal, スジモヨウフグ, buntal garis, 菲律宾叉鼻鲀, 纹腹叉鼻鲀

A pale cream to greyish puffer marked with fine dark lines running lengthwise along the body, usually with a darker patch around the pectoral fin base. It is kept for its charming, inquisitive personality and the way it learns to recognise its owner. In the wild it lives over sandy and seagrass areas in lagoons and sheltered bays.

Care at a glance

Care level

Moderate

Temperament

Semi

Adult size

25 cm

Temperature

23 to 28 °C

pH

8.1 to 8.4

Smallest tank

400 litres

Keep as

Keep singly

Diet

Carnivore: shellfish on the half shell, shrimp, crab, squid, snails and other hard meaty foods to wear down the beak

Swims

Bottom of the tank

Lifespan

8 to 10 years

Water

Marine (saltwater)

Wild range

Western Pacific: Philippines, Indonesia, New Guinea, northern Australia, Solomon Islands and nearby islands

Breeding

Not bred in home aquariums; in the wild it is thought to scatter eggs on the bottom without parental care. All aquarium specimens are wild caught.

Good to know

Not reef safe, as it eats crustaceans, snails and invertebrates and may nip slow fish, and it needs a large tank with strong filtration because it is a messy feeder. Its flesh and organs contain tetrodotoxin, so it must never be eaten, and it should not be stressed into inflating out of water.