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Lagocephalus lagocephalus

Oceanic Puffer
Collection Details

Specimens

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Taxonomic Hierarchy

Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes) Tetraodontiformes (Pufferfishes and Allies) Tetraodontidae (Puffers) Lagocephalus Lagocephalus lagocephalus (Oceanic Puffer)

Description

This species account was compiled from Composite (multiple sources) (Carpenter, K.E. (ed.) 2002. The living marine resources of the Western Central Atlantic. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fishery Purposes. FAO, Rome.) and processed using AI-assisted text extraction. It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting. When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page. Learn more about our species accounts.

Synonymy

None / Lagocephalus laevigatus (Linnaeus, 1766).

Characters

A blunt-headed puffer fish with heavy jaws forming a beak of 2 teeth in both upper and lower jaws. Fins falcate, dorsal fin with 13 to 15 soft rays, anal fin with 11 to 13 soft rays, and pectoral fins with 13 to 16 rays. Pelvic fins absent. Lower caudal lobe longer than upper lobe. Prickles present on belly only. No lappets on head or body. Colour: adults (over 300 mm) dark green or blue dors ally, white ventr ally, with distinct dark spots around pectoral-fin base, extending to ventral surface. Juveniles with about 9 evenly spaced bars dors ally. Pectoral fin dark above, with lower third distinctly lighter.
Body shape: fusiform / normal. Adults dark green, brownish grey, or blue above, white below; juveniles with about 9 bars on back, from eye to dorsal fin; dark spots on front and middle of belly and on side near pectoral base in specimens less than 33 cm (Ref. 4919).

Distribution

This is a circumglobal species oc- curring in all tropical and temperate oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. Sphoeroides dorsalis Longley 1934 Frequent synonyms / misidentifications: None / None. FAO names: En - Marbled puffer; Fr - Compère marbré; Sp - Corrotucho futre. Diagnostic characters: A blunt-headed fish with heavy jaws forming a beak of 2 teeth in both upper and lower jaws. Dorsal and anal fins set far back near caudal fin. Dorsal-fin rays 8, anal-fin rays 7, pectoral-fin rays usu ally 16. Prickles are always present on the dorsum to near origin of dorsal fin. A single pair of dark lappets (sometimes difficult to see) on dorsal surface midway between eyes and dorsal-fin origin. Colour: basal pigmentation uni form grey or brown, with a few diffuse spots later ally, posterior to pectoral fins; males exhibit a distinctive but irregular pattern of scrawl-like markings on cheek. Size: May reach 175 mm, common to 125 mm. Habitat, biology, and fisheries: Found in mod- erate depths, 20 to 100 m, and most frequently taken in shrimp trawls. Little is known of its natu- ral history. No directed fishery exists. Distri bution: Found throughout the area, rang- ing from North Carolina to Suriname.

Habitat Associations

This is an oce- anic, pelagic puffer, found at depths to at least 1 000 m; r arely found near shore. It is a forage species for larger pelagics. There is no known fishery, and the species may be toxic.

Biology

Reaches at least 600 mm; common to 400 mm.
Primarily an oceanic (Ref. 2850, 2683), pelagic species but may enter estuaries (Ref. 4919). Feeds on crustaceans and squids (Ref. 10001). Suspected responsible for fatal poisoning (Ref. 4919). Should not be eaten (Ref. 36731).
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external. Oviparous (Ref. 205).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2011-06-08. Resilience: Medium (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).

Commercial or Environmental Importance

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish.

References

Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Schneider, W. (1990) FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. Field guide to the commercial marine resources of the Gulf of Guinea. Prepared and published with the support of the FAO Regional Office for Africa. Rome: FAO. 268 p.
Eschmeyer, W.N., E.S. Herald and H. Hammann (1983) A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. Boston (MA, USA): Houghton Mifflin Company. xii+336 p.
Smith, M.M. and P.C. Heemstra (1986) Tetraodontidae. p. 894-903. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Figueiredo, J.L. and N.A. Menezes (2000) Manual de peixes marinhos do sudeste do Brasil. VI.Teleostei (5). Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo. Brazil. 116 p.
Anonymous (2001) Fish collection database of the Institut de Ciencies del Mar (C.S.I.C.). Dept. Recursos Marins Renovables Grup d'Ictiologia Marina (G.I.M.) Psg. Joan de Borbo s/n 08039 Barcelona.
Randall, J.E. (2007) Reef and shore fishes of the Hawaiian Islands. Sea Grant College Program, University of Hawai'i, Honolulu. i-xivb + 1-546.

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