The green puffer is a species of Tetraodon, the largest genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 in the pufferfish family.

Habitat

Tetraodon fluviatilis is found in Asia. Specifially it is in waters in and around Bangledesh, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

, and the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. Its habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

 includes: river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

s, lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

s and flood plains. It lives in fresh water

Fresh Water

Fresh Water is the debut album by Australian rock and blues singer Alison McCallum, released in 1972. Rare for an Australian artist at the time, it came in a gatefold sleeve...

 to slightly brackish water.

Feeding habits

This species is primarily carnivorous, eating mollusks, crustaceans, invertebrates, some small fish. In captivity it will eat some vegetation and commercial fish food.
The green pufferfish has sharp front beak, allowing it to crush shellfish

Shellfish

Shellfish is a culinary and fisheries term for exoskeleton-bearing aquatic invertebrates used as food, including various species of molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish are harvested from saltwater environments, some kinds are found only in freshwater...

 and crab

Crab

True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...

s

Description

The green pufferfish grows up to 15 cm long, with a white underbelly and a metallic yellow or green top covered in black spots, bulging eyes which are metallic blue colour, a very thick and broad forehead. Its body usually has a leathery texture, but green pufferfish grown in captivity tend to have smoother skin. Its flesh contains a virulent toxin

Toxin

A toxin is a poisonous substance produced within living cells or organisms; man-made substances created by artificial processes are thus excluded...

, and shouldn’t be eaten.

Behavior

This fish is generally peaceful, but becomes more aggressive as it ages. The green pufferfish is able to scare off predators by inflating its body with both water and air, more than doubling in size.

External links

• FishBase

Bibliography

• http://whozoo.org/Intro2001/munjungs/MJS_GreenPuffer.htm