Northern Puffer (Sphoeroides maculatus)

[TorPeteO]

Hey everyone,

I've never heard of it in the aquarium trade, but they look like they could be loads of fun to have. Obviously, I'd need a huuuuuuge aquarium (S. maculatus grows to max 36 cm) and would probably never be able to actually get said aquarium, but I'm just wondering if anyone has encountered one of these great fish at their LFS or LPS. If anyone has tried/succeeded in keeping one, that information would be even more useful.

Thanks.

Related info on Northern Puffer

 

[Puffer_freak]

Your link doesn't seem to work so I did a search and that puffers looks really nice, I wish I could have one!

 

[appleblossom]

oooh pretty puffer

shame its dead in this photo

 

[TorPeteO]

Yeah, they're really neat looking. The link I included above worked for me, but maybe it's cached or something. If you somehow find a way to it, there's a great picture in it of one of them fully puffed up...really neat. I would be very interested in finding one, but I think I'd probably have to go to Newfoundland and catch one from the wild myself. Which, in itself, would be amazing.

 

[diVer]

The link worked fine for me.

I also looked in my field guide for northern puffer and found a little bit more information.
I don't think they could be kept in an aquariam since they live at depths of up to 180 feet. Just getting them to the surface would probably kill the puffer.
They do look cool though.

 

[TorPeteO]

That's odd, the reference I linked to said they live at depths of 10 metres (about 30 feet, I think) and have commercial importance in the aquarium industry.

The depth thing is probably simply different sources. Also, I've never heard of one in an aquarium, so I'm prone to believe they're not really common in captivity.

Still, it's a great looking puffer! One can dream, can't he?

 

[GP]

He is beautiful.... It's a sin that he is dead in the picture. At least he had a good meal before dying.

 

[Puffer_freak]

*Snorts with wild laughter*