Birdbeak burrfish
Cyclichthys orbicularis
Striped Burrfish
Chilomycterus schoepfii
About
The striped burrfish is a small, ball-shaped relative of the pufferfish that can inflate itself when threatened. It grows to about 28 cm and lives close to shore along the Atlantic coast of the Americas.
- Length
- 27.9 cm
- Weight
- max 630 g
- Depth
- up to 11 m
How to tell it apart
It can be mistaken for a porcupinefish. The porcupinefish has long spines that stand erect, while this fish's spines stay short and fixed flat against its body.
Appearance
This fish has a plump, almost round body covered in short, fixed spines that do not move or stand erect. It is olive or brown above and pale yellow below, with dark lines running at a slant, roughly parallel, across its back and sides. Several large dark blotches mark its flanks, including one below the dorsal fin and one behind each pectoral fin. It can pump water or air into its stomach to puff up its body.
Habitat
Lives in shallow water along the western Atlantic, from Brazil and Florida north to Cape Cod, and shows up off New York in late summer and fall. It favours seagrass beds in bays and coastal lagoons, and also turns up on shallow coastal reefs, usually no deeper than about 11 metres.
Did you know?
Striped burrfish often wash up dead on beaches, where their short, fixed spines can painfully hurt a bare foot that steps on them by mistake.
Log it in Into the Blue
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