The puffer fish (also known as the blow fish or Tetraodontidae, if Latin is your thing) lives in the tropical waters of the Pacific Ocean. This fish has quite the prickly personality, and is easily aggravated by its fellow fish colleagues. When agitated, the puffer fish channels its inner balloon, and puffs itself up to a much larger size, sometimes with spines all over its body. This makes the fish look much more threatening, although it feels self-conscious about its appearance until it is able to calm back down. However, about 50% of the time the puffer fish is an absolutely adorable, happy little creature who would never hurt anything. The puffer fish really does not want to be eaten, as in addition to this rather unique natural defense, its flesh is also poisonous, and will paralyze or kill anything that decides that it is a good idea to eat it. Puffer fish reproduce the same way most fish do, which I really don't feel like getting into right now, and they lay about four hundred eggs at a time. These eggs are buoyant and will usually float to the surface, and those that are lucky enough to survive hatch as fully functional, strong independent puffer fish who don't need no mom. Puffer fish feast on a diet consisting mostly of tiny invertebrates and algae, none of which have the tremendous fortune of being able to expand themselves into a spherical ball of hatred. The tiger shark and lizardfish are some of the puffer fish's only natural predators, who have decided that, instead of eating any of the other thousands of species of fish, it would be best to evolve specifically to eat this one random poisonous fish which can also turn itself into a ball of spikes at will. Some people even enjoy eating puffer fish, despite the fact that it is incredibly poisonous if not prepared correctly. If eaten raw or improperly prepared, the meat will likely kill within 24 hours, or put one in a coma for several days if they survive initially. According to The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources even claimed that the poison of the puffer fish is 100 times more potent than cyanide. Personally, I don't understand why people and other predators seem to want to go through so much trouble to eat something that has made it incredibly obvious that it does not, in fact, want to be eaten.
Monday, November 9, 2015
Puffer Fish
The puffer fish (also known as the blow fish or Tetraodontidae, if Latin is your thing) lives in the tropical waters of the Pacific Ocean. This fish has quite the prickly personality, and is easily aggravated by its fellow fish colleagues. When agitated, the puffer fish channels its inner balloon, and puffs itself up to a much larger size, sometimes with spines all over its body. This makes the fish look much more threatening, although it feels self-conscious about its appearance until it is able to calm back down. However, about 50% of the time the puffer fish is an absolutely adorable, happy little creature who would never hurt anything. The puffer fish really does not want to be eaten, as in addition to this rather unique natural defense, its flesh is also poisonous, and will paralyze or kill anything that decides that it is a good idea to eat it. Puffer fish reproduce the same way most fish do, which I really don't feel like getting into right now, and they lay about four hundred eggs at a time. These eggs are buoyant and will usually float to the surface, and those that are lucky enough to survive hatch as fully functional, strong independent puffer fish who don't need no mom. Puffer fish feast on a diet consisting mostly of tiny invertebrates and algae, none of which have the tremendous fortune of being able to expand themselves into a spherical ball of hatred. The tiger shark and lizardfish are some of the puffer fish's only natural predators, who have decided that, instead of eating any of the other thousands of species of fish, it would be best to evolve specifically to eat this one random poisonous fish which can also turn itself into a ball of spikes at will. Some people even enjoy eating puffer fish, despite the fact that it is incredibly poisonous if not prepared correctly. If eaten raw or improperly prepared, the meat will likely kill within 24 hours, or put one in a coma for several days if they survive initially. According to The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources even claimed that the poison of the puffer fish is 100 times more potent than cyanide. Personally, I don't understand why people and other predators seem to want to go through so much trouble to eat something that has made it incredibly obvious that it does not, in fact, want to be eaten.
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I've heard stories of how a cook prepared the fish wrong and it kills people.
ReplyDeleteI think these fish are so cute. I mean they might look scary to some, but like you said 50% of the time they are happy.
ReplyDeleteWOW. Didn't realize these little suckers were so deadly! Still cute, though. (;
ReplyDeleteThis fish is so pretty! It is so sad that it is deadly.
ReplyDeleteI also saw this same fish on a tv show i watch often, its about a sponge who lives under the sea. This fish tries to teach the sponge how to drive.
ReplyDeleteI also saw this same fish on a tv show i watch often, its about a sponge who lives under the sea. This fish tries to teach the sponge how to drive.
ReplyDelete