Tetraodon leiurus is a species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of Tetraodon

Tetraodon

Tetraodon is the largest genus in the pufferfish family . Its 23 members have a wide distribution, from Africa to Southeast Asia...

, 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

Pufferfish

Tetraodontidae is a family of primarily marine and estuarine fish of the Tetraodontiformes order. The family includes many familiar species which are variously called pufferfish, balloonfish, blowfish, bubblefish, globefish, swellfish, toadfish, toadies, honey toads, sugar toads, and sea squab...

 family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

, found across Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 from Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 to Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

 and in particular the Mekong basin

Mekong

The Mekong is a river that runs through China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is the world's 10th-longest river and the 7th-longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annually....

. It is occasionally imported into the aquarium

Aquarium

An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...

 trade but is reported to be aggressive and snappish.

Characteristics

T. leiurus, which grows to around 16 cm (6"-7"), can be identified by dirty brown, brownish grey or gray markings on the upper part of the body which is poorly separated from markings on the lower body which tends to be dirty off-white, yellowish or pale grey with dusky mottling or spots. T. leiurus also typically display occelated spots which may be red, green or blue.

T. leiurus are typically found in tropical freshwater

Freshwater

Fresh water is naturally occurring water on the Earth's surface in ice sheets, ice caps, glaciers, bogs, ponds, lakes, rivers and streams, and underground as groundwater in aquifers and underground streams. Fresh water is generally characterized by having low concentrations of dissolved salts and...

 or brackish water, with temperatures ranging between 24°C and 28°C, including streams and rivers in upland and lowland areas, flowing and standing water habitats, swamps, and reservoirs.

Like most Tetraodontidae, T. leiurus is a molluscivore

Molluscivore

A molluscivore is a carnivorous animal which eats mainly molluscs. The term durophagy is used to describe this eating behavior.Several species of pufferfish and loaches fit this category...

and feeds on molluscs, crustaceans, and other invertebrates.