my profile  |  logon  |  help search  > Database salt water Vertebrates -- Select -- Angelfish Angelfish(Dwarf) Anthias Assessors Basslets Batfish Blennies Boxfish(Cowfish) Butterflies Butterfly(Banners) Cardinals Cat Fish Comets Damsels Damsels(Clowns) Dottybacks Dragonets Drumfish Eels Filefish Frogfish Goatfish Gobies Gobies(Darts) Grammas Groupers Hamlets Hawkfish Helmut Gurnards Hogfish Jacks Jawfish Lionfish Miscellaneous Moorish Idols Parrotfish Pipefish Porcupinefish Puffers Rabbitfish Rays Scorpionfish Sea Horses Sharks Snappers Soapfish Soldierfish Spine Cheeks Squirrelfish Surgeonfish(Tang) Sweetlips Tilefish Toadfish Triggerfish Wrasses Wrasses(ReefSafe) Invertebrates -- Select -- Anemones Cephalopods Clams Crabs Fan Worms Jellyfish Lobsters Scallops Sea Cucumbers Sea Slugs Sea Stars Sea Urchins Shrimp Snails Sponges Tunicates(Squirt) Corals -- Select -- Hard Corals (LPS) Hard Corals (SPS) Mushroom Corals Polyp Corals Sea Fans Soft Corals fresh water compatibility disease/health > Virtual Tanks > Resources > Articles > Reviews SALT WATER  - Vertebrate Puffers Ambon Toby Canthigaster Atlantic Toby Canthigaster Bennett's Toby Canthigaster Fingerprint Toby Canthigaster Ocellated Toby Canthigaster Spotted Sharpnose Puffer Canthigaster Threebarred Toby Canthigaster Valentini Toby Canthigaster Dog Faced Puffer Tetraodontidae Honeycomb Toby Tetraodontidae Immaculate Puffer Tetraodontidae Map Puffer Tetraodontidae Masked Puffer Tetraodontidae Meleagris Puffer Tetraodontidae Panther Puffer Tetraodontidae Starry Puffer Tetraodontidae Striped Puffer Tetraodontidae Whitespotted Puffer Tetraodontidae Whitespotted Toby Tetraodontidae Submit A New Specimen additional commentary       Do puffers have to have their teeth filed down? If you only find this post inaccurate, please post one of your own to the contrary. However, if you find this post in violation of our Community Guidelines, so we can review it and help keep our community clean and friendly. Posted by Uzzbay on March 04 2007 post rating 100 (0 votes)      Well, yes, but only in rare cases. With proper care and feeding this shouldn’t be an issue. Pufferfish, Porcupinefish and Tobies all have a fused beak-like structure instead of conventional teeth. Their “beak” continues to grow and will never stop leading to death by starvation. In the wild, their natural food source consists of hard shell animals such as mussels, clams, snails and crabs. Basically any shelled invertebrates, which they have to “crack” open to eat. By doing so, the “beak” is naturally filed down and overgrowth is not a problem. In captivity, they may not get to exercise this behavior enough, if at all. However, do not think this is an activity that must happen daily. Occasionally supplementing their diet with mussels or oysters in the shell, crab legs or snails will do the trick. Also, if you place a large conch shell in your tank you may see your Pufferfish occasionally scraping its teeth on it. So, yes it can happen where their “beaks” get too long and must be filed down and this can be very difficult. Some veterinarians offer this service, but this is extremely hard to find. So, just follow a proper diet routine and you should hopefully never have to worry about this.       Don't intentionally make them 'puff up' If you only find this post inaccurate, please post one of your own to the contrary. However, if you find this post in violation of our Community Guidelines, so we can review it and help keep our community clean and friendly. Posted by Uzzbay on March 04 2007 post rating 100 (0 votes)      The “puffing” behavior is a defensive response to ward of potential predators by doubling or tripling its appearance. It is also a last ditch effort used if they are about to be consumed, hopefully preventing the attacker from being able to swallow the Pufferfish. This feat is achieved by drawing in large amounts of water into the stomach. Since Pufferfish are not limited by a rib cage, they are free to inflate up to great sizes. So, this is a natural behavior, and chances are you will see this occur in your home aquarium if you keep a Pufferfish for any length of time. In captivity, it is usually a response to stress brought on from poor water conditions or pestering tank-mates. Although this can be an amazing site to see and entertaining for someone that has never seen it happen, it can prove fatal for the fish. The stress that provoking the fish to inflate is bad enough. The Puffer can experience circulatory and respiratory problems due to the extreme change in internal pressure, as well as problems with digestion due to the stress their stomach endures when forced to expand. Also, there is a great risk that the fish may not be able to expel all of the water causing it to get trapped within and eventually leading to death. An even more common fatal occurrence is the Pufferfish sucking in air instead of water. This occurs often when they are transported via a net instead of a water-filled container. Never lift a Pufferfish into the air. If it ingests air it may never be able to deflate, and again lead to death of your finned friend.