All fish / Diodontidae

Spot-fin Porcupinefish

Diodon hystrix

Also known as spotfin porcupinefish, spot-fin porcupine puffer, porcupine puffer, black-spotted porcupinefish, giant porcupinefish, porcupine fish, balloonfish, ปลาปักเป้าหนามทุเรียน, buntal landak, ネズミフグ, ikan landak, 六斑刺鲀

A large, rounded porcupinefish with a pale body covered in small black spots and long spines that lie flat until it inflates. It is kept for its big eyes, inquisitive nature and habit of learning to recognise its keeper, though it needs a very large system.

Care at a glance

Care level

Moderate

Temperament

Semi

Adult size

40 cm

Temperature

23 to 28 °C

pH

8.1 to 8.4

Smallest tank

1500 litres

Keep as

Keep singly

Diet

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

Swims

Middle of the tank

Lifespan

10 to 15 years

Water

Marine (saltwater)

Wild range

Circumtropical in warm seas, including the Indo-Pacific, Atlantic and eastern Pacific

Breeding

It spawns in open water, releasing buoyant eggs with no parental care. Captive breeding in home aquariums is essentially unknown.

Good to know

It can reach 70 to 90 cm in the wild, produces heavy waste and will eat invertebrates, so it is not reef safe. The skin and organs can contain tetrodotoxin, so it should never be eaten and should not be stressed into inflating out of water.