porcupine fish

(also called ‘blowfish’, ‘balloon fish’, ‘puffer fish’, and ‘globe fish’)

a kind of fish – salt-water fish – ray-finned – nocturnal (= active at night) – bottom dweller – medium-sized fish (mostly) in pale yellow with large patches and spots of black (each species has a colour of its own), covered with long spines, large, sharp teeth, large eyes; size: (varies widely) some small species – 7-8 inches in length and 40-100 grams in weight, some larger species – 1-3½ feet in length and 500 grams to 3 Kg in weight; feeds on clams, oysters, sponges, coral, and crabs, snails, sea urchins; lives for 5-10 (?) years; 17-20 species found in the temperate and tropical seas

[A group of porcupine fish is called a ‘shoal’.]

Special Features:

The remarkable feature of the porcupine fish is that, like other “puffer” fishes, it can puff out (= make its body large) its body when startled or threatened.  When attacked, the porcupine fish takes in gulps of water or air until it becomes rounder and rounder, like a ball or globe, which makes it look much bigger than it actually is.  This odd shape and the seemingly large size discourage its attackers from trying to swallow it! When the danger passes the fish deflates and gets back to its normal shape.

In addition, as the name suggests, porcupine fish have spikes, like that of a porcupine’s ‘quills’, set deep in their skin, which stick out when the fish blows itself up, and the predator (= animal that tries to kill and eat) has to spit it out even when it swallows the ball-shape fish unmindful of the spikes!!

Most porcupine fish are poisonous – they produce a toxic substance which is harmful.  However, some people eat this amazing fish as a special dish, under the name “fugu”, in some Asian countries!

Porcupine fish are dried, puffed out and sold to the tourists as souvenirs!  They are also used in Chinese medicine.

South Sea islanders used to wear the spiked skins of porcupine fish as helmets!

“Puffy” the porcupine fish is the mascot of the UNIX-derived computer operating system Open BSD!

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