Meet the northern puffer fish (Sphoeroides maculatus). When compared to other fish, it is a strange one indeed. It has some of usual fishlike characteristics like gills and fins, but it also has some unusual characteristics that are rather unfish like – the ability to puff up, for example. All fish have dorsal (top) fins that are typically located high on the back of the fish, usually just behind its head. But in the case of the puffer, it has a small dorsal fin that sits far back on its body near the tail and just above its ventral (bottom) or anal fin. It relies on these fins to move it in a side to side sculling motion. It uses its pectoral (side) fins to steer and maintain balance so it doesn’t lull to one side or the other. When threatened by a predator, the puffer will whip its caudal (tail) fin side to side for an extra burst of speed. If that tactic doesn’t work, it will gulp water into its expandable stomach and puff up. In order get completely puffed up, the puffer fish to lose it pelvic fins, which are normally found on a fish’s belly, slightly in front of its pectoral fins. If these fins and the skeletal structure associated with them were present, it would impede the puffer’s ability to puff up. For this same reason, puffer fish do not have any ribs. (Photos: VA Institute of Marine Science)
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 10:25:01 +0000
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