Ready for the next puffer? Check out the Starry Puffer. Back to Puffers & Related — Overview. Open the Main Menu.

The Spotted Sharpnose Puffer is also called, simply, the Spotted Puffer. Members of the Canthigaster genus are called Sharp-nosed Puffers or Tobies. It is a reddish brown with white spots. It lacks pelvic fins, but has learned to use the pectoral fins to move about the aquarium.

A 50 gallon or larger, fish-only aquarium is suitable. It may be aggressive at times, nipping the fins of tank mates, leaving a circular hole as its mark. It will eat invertebrates found in a reef tank. Its teeth are actually a fused beak-like structure which it uses to crush its prey.

Parts of its flesh are poisonous. It has the ability, when threatened or alarmed, to inflate its body to almost twice its normal size. It does get alarmed when in a net, therefore, use a container to transfer it.

The Spotted Sharpnose Puffer needs a varied diet of meaty foods including squid, krill, clams, and hard shelled shrimp to help wear down their ever growing teeth.