Birdbeak burrfish
Cyclichthys orbicularis
Porcupinefish
porcupine_fish
About
Porcupinefish are slow, round-bodied fish covered in sharp spines that can puff up their body when threatened. In this app the group includes the spot-fin porcupinefish, the long-spine porcupinefish, and the black-blotched porcupinefish.
How to tell it apart
Look for a slow-moving, rounded fish covered in spines, with a beak-like mouth instead of separate teeth. When threatened, the fish swallows water or air and swells up, making the spines stand out, which is the clearest sign of this group. Members are told apart mainly by spot or stripe pattern and by whether the spines are long or short.
Appearance
Porcupinefish have a rounded body covered in spines and move slowly through the water. Their upper and lower teeth are fused into a beak, like a parrot's beak, which they use to crush food.
Habitat
Porcupinefish live in shallow, temperate and tropical seas worldwide. A few species live further from shore, where large schools of thousands of fish can gather.
Behaviour
Porcupinefish are slow swimmers that rely on inflating their body and raising their spines for defence rather than on speed.
Diet
Porcupinefish eat molluscs and sea urchins, crushing the shells with their beak-like mouth.
Did you know?
Charles Darwin wrote that a porcupinefish, swallowed alive and inflated by a shark, was known to eat its way out through the shark's stomach and side, killing it.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
