Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

Long spine porcupinefish

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Kingdom
  
Animalia

Order
  
Tetraodontiformes

Genus
  
Diodon

Higher classification
  
Diodon

Found in
  
Red Sea

Phylum
  
Chordata

Family
  
Diodontidae

Scientific name
  
Diodon holocanthus

Rank
  
Species

Long-spine porcupinefish Swimming LongSpine Porcupine Fish at The Florida Aquarium ClipPix

Similar
  
Diodon, Porcupinefish, Spot‑fin porcupinefish, Tetraodontiformes, Chilomycterus

Tropical fish identification long spine porcupinefish diodon holocanthus


Diodon holocanthus, known commonly as the longspined porcupinefish or freckled porcupinefish among other vernacular names, is a species of marine fish in the family Diodontidae.

Contents

Long-spine porcupinefish Porcupinefish Longspine SNOOK99 roughfishcom

Diet

The species' diet includes sea urchins and hard-shelled mollusks.

Distribution

Long-spine porcupinefish httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommons22

The Longspined porcupinefish has a circumtropical in distribution, being found in the tropical zones of major seas and oceans:

Long-spine porcupinefish Longspine Porcupinefish Diodon holocanthus

  • In the Atlantic it is found from Florida and the Bahamas to Brazil and in the Eastern Atlantic from 30°N to 23°S, as well as around South Africa.
  • And In the western Indian Ocean from the southern Red Sea to Madagascar, Réunion and Mauritius.
  • Also In the Pacific Ocean from southern Japan to Lord Howe Island, and east to the Hawaiian and Easter islands. Also from southern California to Colombia and the Galapagos Islands.

    • Description

    Pale in colour with large black blotches and smaller black spots, these spots becoming fewer in number with age. Has many long, two-rooted depressible spines particularly on its head. The teeth of the two jaws are fused into a parrot-like "beak". Adults may reach 50 cm (20 in) in length. The only other fish with which it might be confused is the black-blotched porcupinefish, (Diodon liturosus) but it has much longer spines than that species.

    Diet

    An Omnivore that Feeds on mollusks (molluscs), sea urchins, hermit crabs, snails,herbivor diet and crabs during its active phase at night. They use the beak combined with plates on the roof of the mouth to crush their prey such as molluscs and sea urchins that would otherwise be indigestible.

    Habitat

    They are found over the muddy sea bottom, in estuaries, in lagoons or on coral and rocky reefs around the world in tropical and subtropical seas.

    Spawning

    Spawns at the surface at dawn or at dusk in pairs or in groups of males with a single female; the juveniles remain pelagic until they are at least 7 cm (3 in) long. Young and sub-adult fish sometimes occur in groups.

    Uses

    It is used in Chinese medicine, and is captured at the surface with a hand net. It is poisonous if not prepared correctly.

    References

    Long-spine porcupinefish Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA