Diodon holocanthus Linnaeus, 1758

Long-spine porcupinefish

Species recognized by FishBase external link, R Froese & D Pauly (eds) in 
IUCN Red List Status: NOT EVALUATED external link Showing: scientific names

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Diodon holocanthus Linnaeus, 1758

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Diodon holocanthus Linnaeus, 1758
Diodon holocanthus
Diodon holocanthus
Diodon holocanthus Linnaeus, 1758
Diodon holocanthus Linnaeus, 1758
Diodon holocanthus Linnaeus, 1758
Diodon holocanthus Linnaeus, 1758
Diodon holocanthus Linnaeus, 1758
Diodon holocanthus Linnaeus, 1758

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Table of Contents

General Description

Description

Source and Additional Information
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Shorefishes of the Tropical Eastern Pacific Online Information System external link
Copyright
© Copyright 2008 to 2009 - Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Some rights reserved external link
Author
Linnaeus, C.
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Common names: porcupinefish (English), balloonfish (English), pez erizo (Espanol)
 
Diodon holocanthus Linnaeus, 1758


Freckled porcupinefish,     Long-spine balloonfish


Body a robust oval, inflatable; head wide and blunt; a pair of small barbels on chin; eyes large; nasal organ a tentacle with 2 openings; teeth fused into a strong, parrot-like beak that lacks a front groove, large, opens widely at front; gill opening a vertical slit before pectoral base; pectorals large; fins without spines; no pelvic fins; dorsal 13-15; anal rays 13-14; pectoral rays 22-25; body and head covered with numerous long (> eye), erectible, 2-rooted, slender, round spines; 12-16 spines in an approximate row from top of snout to dorsal fin; anterior middle spines on top of head longer than longest spines posterior to pectoral fins; no spines on tail base.


Light olive to pale brown, shading to white ventrally;  small black spots on upper two-thirds of head and body; a brown bar from above to below eye; a broad brown bar across occipital region and another across middle of back; a large oval brown blotch above each pectoral fin and another around dorsal-fin base; fins plain.


Size: attains 50 cm.

Inhabits reefs and open sand-rubble bottoms.

Depth: 1-100 m.

Circumtropical distribution; southern California to the Gulf of California to northern Peru and all the offshore islands.

Biology

Source and Additional Information
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FishBase external link
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Some rights reserved external link
Recorder
Crispina B. Binohlan
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Inhabit shallow reefs to open, soft bottoms. Also in areas with rocky substrata. Sometimes form groups (Ref. 9710, 48637). Occur on open muddy substrates as well as on rich soft-bottom and coral reefs. Juveniles often with floating Sargassum rafts. Young and sub-adults may form small groups (Ref. 48637). Benthopelagic (Ref. 58302). Juveniles pelagic to about 6-9 cm. Solitary. Feed on mollusks, sea urchins, hermit crabs, and crabs at night (Ref. 9680). Relatively poor swimmers (Ref. 9710). Used in Chinese medicine (Ref. 12166). Captured at the surface using a hand net (Ref. 26165).
References
"Diodon holocanthus Linnaeus, 1758". Encyclopedia of Life, available from "http://www.eol.org/pages/225626". Accessed 21 Mar 2010.