Dixon1990 Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Can anyone tell me what type of porcupine puffer it is at the southern encounter in CHCH? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firespook Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 from the southern encounter website, dunno if it helps. PORCUPINEFISH (Allomycterus jaculiferus) Synonymy: Koputotara Porcupinefish occur only in New Zealand, where they are widespread. They can inflate themselves so that they appear larger to predators, with the spines that cover their body standing erect as a secondary defence mechanism. Inflating themselves takes around a minute as they ingest water. They generally feed on hard-shelled creatures such as crabs and shellfish. The beak of the porcupinefish grows continually, but is worn short by the hard-shelled animals it eats. Although average length is 25-35cm they can grow up to 50-60cm. Did you know? Once inflated, porcupinefish can be easily caught by SCUBA divers, as they become hopeless swimmers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted September 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Can they be kept in tanks? If so what size? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Can they be kept in tanks? If so what size? depends on size of fish, have kept them in 4 foot plus tanks before can sometimes be found on mount beach during and after a good onshore storm, they get stressed in wave action, puff up then are poor swimmers and get pushed to the shore if you can get to them early enough and into a bucket of saltwater they calm down and deflate, if they aren't too damaged they last quite a while in tanks keeping is same as other local marines but they can take bites out of other fish if hungry, can take a while to settle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted September 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 How big do they get? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 30-50 cm according to larry Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 most of the ones i have seen are between 10 - 30cm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Ask coelecanth as he works there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coelacanth Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 Here he is. Some call him Penelope, I call him Chubby-chops (don't know what sex he is, by the way). He's been at the aquarium for many years. Keeping them is exactly the same as any other puffer or porcupinefish (except not in tropical tanks obviously). They are common in NZ but south of Cook Strait they are relatively rare (they range as far south as Foveaux Strait). Tank size depends on size of the fish. They grow up to 60cm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdspider Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 I never knew it had a name! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coelacanth Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 Becca named it Penelope, just like she named the two male char Rod and Tod...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted September 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 whats up with the crazy blue cod and his 2 little friends that put their fins around him? i was there for about 2 hours and every time i looked at that tank they kept on doing the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coelacanth Posted September 27, 2007 Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 in the main tank? Were they marblefish? (little black and white marbled ones). Maybe they were just having some special time together.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted September 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2007 Yea the marblefish.It looked very weird what they were doing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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