up to 1.1 m9 Kg10-100 mDangerousPoisonousLeast Concern
1832
A big silver puffer to 1.1 m (43 in), dark above with a bright silver band along the cheek and flank, spotted over the back. It is faster and more streamlined than the reef puffers and spends its time over open bottom rather than among coral.
It carries enough tetradotoxin to kill an adult, and unlike most puffers here it is regularly caught on hook and line. That combination has made it a public health problem: since the species came through the Suez Canal (🇪🇬 Egypt) into the Mediterranean it has caused repeated poisonings and several deaths there, and it is banned from sale across the region.
The beak is the other hazard. Four fused teeth in a jaw powerful enough to crush crab shells will take a finger off a fisherman removing a hook, and bites happen every season.
It is a strong swimmer and a competent predator, taking crabs, cephalopods and fish, and it grows large enough to be conspicuous. Here it is a native part of the fauna and simply an animal to admire from a distance; in the Mediterranean it is an invasion with a body count.
There are no major threats known to this species. It is taken incidentally in long-line and trawl fisheries, and is of little value. Due to its affinity with seagrass beds, especially as spawning grounds, this species may be undergoing population decline due to loss of habitat. One-third of global seagrass species are currently experiencing population declines, and 21% of globally assessed seagrass species are in threatened or near-threatened categories primarily due to coastal development and pollution (Short et al. 2011).
Threat classification from the IUCN Red List.
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