‹ Fish Finder· #528
Valentin's Sharpnose Puffer
Canthigaster valentini
Bislamabalongfis · nilfis— names this kind of animal, not this species alone
- Habitat
- Reef
- Max size
- 11 cm
- Depth
- 1-55 m
- Family
- Tetraodontidae
Valentin's sharpnose puffer, also known as the saddled puffer or black saddled toby, is a demersal marine fish belonging to the family Tetraodontidae. The saddled puffer is a small sized fish which grows up to 11 cm. It is widely distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indian Ocean, Red Sea included, and until the oceanic islands of the Pacific Ocean. It inhabits rocky and coral reefs, lagoons and external reef until 55 m. Canthigaster valentini has a diurnal activity.
Adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Side by side, with what tells them apart.
Blacksaddle Filefish copies the toxic Valentin's Sharpnose Puffer to be left alone -- same white body, black saddles and yellow tail. Look at the fins: the filefish has long soft dorsal and anal fins running along the rear half of the body, and a spine it can raise above the eye. The puffer's fins are short and rounded, set far back, with no spine, and it can inflate.
See the Blacksaddle Filefish →
Young Blacksaddled Coralgroupers may copy the toxic Valentin's Sharpnose Puffer: white with dark saddles. The puffer stays small (11 cm), with a short body, a pointed snout, short rounded fins set far back, and four dark saddles, the middle two reaching the belly. A young coralgrouper has a grouper's big mouth and long dorsal fin, and grows into a 125 cm predator -- white with black saddles and yellow fins, or dark and covered in blue spots.
See the Blacksaddled Coralgrouper →