Featured Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons
By Alice Morris
A rare puffer fish was rescued in Long Beach, CA after being found floundering in coastal waters.
The spot-fin porcupine fish was disoriented and weak when a scientific collector discovered it while diving. The fish had multiple abrasions on its body after colliding with rocks off the coast of San Pedro.
It was taken to the Aquarium of the Pacific where it received veterinary attention and rehabilitation. The diver’s 7-year-old daughter named the fish Fugu, after the Japanese word for puffer fish.
“Typically this species is found in tropical waters,” said Angela Komatovich, an aquarist at the Aquarium of the Pacific. “A scientific collector was out diving and happened to see this fish in distress. He was injured, covered in parasites.”
Despite the warmer ocean temperatures brought on this year by El Niño, recent colder temperatures of 60 degrees made the fish’s survival unlikely in coastal California waters, according to officials.
Visitors to the Aquarium of the Pacific were given a first glimpse of the puffer fish on December 8th.
Puffer fish are named for their ability to inflate their stomachs with water (or air if outside water) to intimidate potential predators.
The spot-fin porcupine fish, also known as the spotted porcupine fish or black-spotted porcupine fish is toxic, having enough poison in a single individual to kill 30 adult humans.
In fact, the neurotoxin in a puffer fish is 1,200 times stronger than cyanide!
Luckily for visitors to the Aquarium of the Pacific, Fugu can be enjoyed from behind the safety of aquarium glass.
Good luck to Fugu as he recovers from this prickly experience!