298 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 



113. Puffer (Spheroides maculatus Block and Schneider) 

 Swellfish; Swell toad; Blower; Balloonfish; Bellowsfish; Globefish 



Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 1733. 



Description. — When not inflated the puffer is moderately elongate (about three 

 times as long as deep) but not at all compressed, and tapers from abreast the gill 

 opening to a moderately slender caudal peduncle in one direction and to a moderately 

 rounded snout in the other. The very small mouth is situated at the tip of the 

 snout as in the triggerfishes and filefishes. There are no true teeth but the bones 

 of the upper and lower jaws form cutting edges, each divided in the middle by a 

 suture, giving the appearance of two large incisors above and as many below. 

 The gill opening is very small and set oblique, but its obliquity is just the reverse 

 of that of the foolfish (p. 296) — that is, backward and downward. The eyes are 

 set very high and are horizontally oval in outline. The skin is scaleless, but the 

 sides of both head and body, the back from snout to dorsal fin, and the belly as 



Fig. 138. — Puffer {Spheroides maculatus) 



far back as the vent are rough with small, stiff, close-set prickles. The soft dorsal 

 is very short (7 rays), rhomboid in outline, about twice as high as long, and set 

 far back close to the caudal peduncle, with the anal similar to it in shape and size 

 (6 rays) and rising close behind it. There is no spiny dorsal. The caudal fin 

 is of moderate size, slightly rounded, with angular corners. The pectorals are 

 fan-shaped and are situated close behind the gill opening. There are no ventrals. 

 The most interesting morphologic character of the puffer is its ability to inflate 

 itself with air or water until the skin of the belly is stretched tight as a football 

 and the fish is almost globular, and to deflate again at will, when the abdomen 

 shrinks back to jts normal dimensions. 



Color. — Dark olive green above, sometimes ashy or dusky, the sides greenish 

 yellow to orange, crossbarred with 6 to 8 rather indefinite dark bands or blotches. 

 The belly is white. 



Size. — This fish is said to grow to a length of 14 inches, but it is seldom more 

 than 10 inches long. Females average larger than males. 



