Sphoeroides nephelus (Goode & Bean, 1882) - southern pufferfish in Florida, USA. (December 2012) This individual was released back into the water.

Pufferfish are famous for a peculiar anti-predator defensive behavior. When threatened, pufferfish significantly inflate their bodies. When "puffed", numerous dermal spines project outward. An inflated pufferfish poses a choking hazard to potential predators. Pufferfish also have one or more toxins in their bodies (e.g., tetrodotoxin and saxitoxin) that cause illness or death. Saxitoxin is not generated by the pufferfish body - it ultimately comes from Pyrodinium bahamense dinoflagellates.

Classification: Animalia, Chordata, Vertebrata, Osteichthyes, Actinopterygii, Teleostei, Tetraodontiformes, Tetraodontidae

Locality: Bird Key Middle Ground West Beach (= Main Channel North Beach; = Cabbage Key-Pine Key North Beach) - sandy shoreline along the western side of Rt. 679, just north of Cabbage Key & Pine Key, northern side of Tampa Bay, south of city of St. Petersburg, Gulf of Mexico Coast of southern Florida, USA

More info. at: