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| Starry Pufferfish (Image Source) |
Sea Creature Spotlight: Puffer Fish
This sea creature spotlight is about the puffer fish. The puffer fish is interesting to me because it puffs itself up to scare away enemies.The puffer fish lives in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic ocean. Also, they are usually at most aquariums if you want to see them close.
When I went to the Florida Aquarium (absolutely LOVED the Florida Aquarium), there was a puffer fish who followed us as long as he could follow us. We got some pictures of him/her. I think the puffer fish may have thought we had food with us!
Check him/her out...
Did you know?
*There are more than 120 types (species) of puffer fish*One pufferfish contains enough toxin to kill 30 adult humans
*Pufferfish do not have scales, instead they have a thick skin
*They only have four (4) teeth! They belong to a scientific family of fish called Tetraodontidae and some of you may already know this from studying Greek and Latin roots in school, but 'tetra' means four and 'odous' means tooth
*Some baby pufferfish are so small you need a microscope to see them and some grown-ups can get as big as 4 feet long
*Sharks are the only species immune to pufferfish toxins
*They can be found in many different colors
Here's a great example of a pufferfish's defense in action...
Still feeling prickly?
Here are some pufferfish themed activities...
Sources for this article:
http://ipfactly.com/pufferfish/
http://www.softschools.com/facts/animals/puffer_fish_facts/59/
