This little puffer fish stuffed animal is made by Wild Republic, and is in our sponsor's online gift shop. Find Pufferfish stuffed animals, facts and information here at Animals N More. The pufferfish stuffed animal shown here is a Mini Cuddlekins Pufferfish made by Wild Republic.
The Northern Puffer, Sphoeroides maculatus, blows itself up when threatened with either air or water until its whole body is round, like a balloon, with only its fins and tail projecting. It can puff up to about twice its normal size. The water or air is pumped directly into the stomach, part of which is modified into a special, inflatable sac. The mouth cavity acts as the pump, its floor being either capable of considerable expansion and contraction. Strong muscles at each end of the stomach prevent the escape of the fluid or gas from that organ until the puffer wishes to release it. An eight-inch specimen engulfs a little more than a quart of water in becoming fully inflated. In this puffed up state, it can only swim at about half its normal speed.
When blown up with water, the puffer is a difficult or impossible morsel for hungry predators to handle, and inflation with air can make it impossible for fish-eating birds to hold a puffer in their claws.
Puffers themselves can be effective predators, however, and are equipped with four very strong, sharp nipping teeth. They feed on crabs, bivalves, snails, barnacles, and a variety of other invertebrates. When tackling a large crab, puffers gang up on it and take turns in attacking it from all sides, harassing it like a pack of wolves until one member can deliver a bite to the crab's vital nerve center to paralize it. Then they all quickly rip it to shreds.
Whether the northern puffer lays it sticky, heavy eggs on the bottom or whether it simply broadcasts them through the water, allowing them to sink by their own weight, is not definitely known. At any rate, spawning takes place during the late spring and summer, and the tiny spherical eggs hatch about four to five days after being laid. Baby puffers only one-fourth of an inch long can inflate themselves, practically turning inside out to do so. Female northern puffers attain a length of almost nine and one-half inches, while males rarely exceed eight and one-half. The species ranges from Maine to Florida in shallow salt waters.
The Puffer fish is also known as the blowfish, fugu, swellfish, balloonfish and globefish. Most species have drab colors and are silvery or white on the sides and belly. There are two teeth in each jaw. Some puffers are toxic. There are 12 species in North America. The yellow puffer porcupinefish belongs to the family Diodontidae. They are closely related to the Tetraodontidae.
Class: Actinopterygii | Order: Tetraodontiformes | Family: Tetraodontidae
photo by Francesco Ungaro on Unsplash
