Species name: Diodon holocanthus
Common names: Balloon porcupinefish, blotched porcupine fish, blotched porcupine, brown porcupine fish, fine-spotted porcupinefish, freckled porcupinefish, freckled porcupinefish, hedgehog fish, long-spine porcupinefish, porcupine, porcupinefish, spiny balloonfish, and spiny puffer
Family: Diodontidae
Order: Tetraodontiformes
Class: Actinopterygii
Maximum length: 19.7 in.
Minimum tank size: 100 gallons
Hardiness: Easy to medium
Aggressiveness: Aggressive against members of its own species as well as other species. May nip the fins of tank mates and leaving a circular hole as its mark.
Reef Compatibility: Not recommended as it would eat many of the invertebrates.
Distribution: The Long-spine porcupinefish is circumtropical in distribution, being found in the tropical zones of major seas and oceans. Western Atlantic: Canada, Florida, USA and the Bahamas to Brazil. Eastern Atlantic: 30°N to 23°S, and in South Africa. Western Indian Ocean: southern Red Sea to Madagascar, Reunion and Mauritius. Pacific Ocean: southern Japan south to Lord Howe Island and east to the Hawaiian and Easter islands. Also from southern California, USA to Colombia and the Galapagos Islands.
Diet: Omnivore. Feed mostly on mollusks, sea urchins, hermit crabs, and crabs at night. Should be fed meaty meals: fish, squid, shrimp, mussels or krill and cockles to help wear down their ever growing teeth. It is also a good idea to occasionally supplement with some type of herbivore diet.
Additional information:
The long-spine porcupinefish is the most well-known puffer in the world. In the wild, they inhabit shallow reefs to open soft bottoms, down to 50 feet. They are nocturnal predators, generally hiding in crevices in the reef during the day.
The body of the long-spine porcupinefish is olive brown in colour with white under belly. Juveniles have spots on the ventral side, adults have dark blotches with spots on the dorsal side and a large brown bar is found above and below each eye. The spots become fewer in number with age. Adults may reach 19.7 inches in length. All members of the Family Diodontidae are capable of inflation, and may also change in color when frightened or distressed. They can inflate over two times their original size. You should not provoke inflating since it may take air which is extremely difficult to be removed and may cause illness or even death. As the name suggests, the body of the long-spine porcupinefish is covered with spines. The spines are usually lowered, but may become erect without inflating the body. Netting should be avoid as it may inflate in the net which makes removing it very difficult.
The long-spine porcupinefish are well-known for shooting water out of the tank. So, careful attention should be given to the objects surrounding the aquarium.
The ideal aquarium should have plenty of live rock to hide and ample room to swim. The long-spine porcupinefish prefers a tank of 100 gallon or larger. Ideally, water temperature shoud be at 72-78°F, specific gravity at 1.020-1.025 and pH between 8.1 and 8.4.
