Yellow-spotted Burrfish

The spotbase burrfish, scientifically known as Cyclichthys spilostylus, is a captivating marine fish widely found in the tropical waters of the Indo-West Pacific region. Its range extends from the 🌊 Red Sea to 🇿🇦 South Africa, northeast to southern 🇯🇵 Japan, the 🇵🇭 Philippines, and further to 🇦🇺 Australia and 🇳🇨 New Caledonia (🇫🇷 Overseas France). Occasional sightings have been reported around the Galapagos Islands and even in the Mediterranean Sea near 🇮🇱 Israel.

These fish typically reside in coastal waters near coral reefs, at depths ranging from 3 to 90 meters (10 to 295 feet). Their preferred habitats are seagrass beds and coastal slopes that are rich in sponges. During the day, they hide under rocks or coral ledges and emerge at night to forage, being primarily nocturnal and solitary creatures. Juvenile spotbase burrfish exhibit a pelagic lifestyle, living in open water.

Spotbase burrfish can reach a maximum length of 34 centimeters (13 inches). Their bodies are adorned with short, stiff spines and have 11 to 13 soft rays in the dorsal fin and 10 to 12 in the anal fin. They exhibit a distinctive coloration with dark upper sides and lighter undersides, accented by black spots connected to spine bases, while their fins remain unspotted. Notably, the area just before the tail, known as the caudal peduncle, lacks spines.

Dietarily, these nocturnal fish primarily consume hard-shelled invertebrates, including molluscs, crustaceans, and sea urchins. The biology of spotbase burrfish can pose potential hazards to humans. The species is known to harbor ciguatera toxin, which can cause poisoning if the fish is consumed. Furthermore, they can accumulate tetrodotoxin, a potent poison, similarly found in their relatives like pufferfish. Additionally, their strong jaws are capable of delivering significant bites.

Although intriguing, spotbase burrfish are not considered of commercial interest to fisheries. The fish's name is derived from Greek, where "Cyclichthys" combines "kyklos" meaning round and "ichthys" meaning fish, aptly describing their round, spiny appearance.