Long-spine Porcupinefish (MatBio: FISHES - Matanzas Biodiversity)

Long-spine Porcupinefish

Diodon holocanthus

Summary ⁸

Diodon holocanthus, known commonly as the Longspined porcupinefish or Freckled porcupinefish among other vernacular names, is a species of marine fish in the family Diodontidae.

Description ⁹

Common names: porcupinefish (English), balloonfish (English), pez erizo (Espanol)

Diodon holocanthus Linnaeus, 1758

Freckled porcupinefish, Long-spine balloonfish

Body a robust oval, inflatable; head wide and blunt; a pair of small barbels on chin; eyes large; nasal organ a tentacle with 2 openings; teeth fused into a strong, parrot-like beak that lacks a front groove, large, opens widely at front; gill opening a vertical slit before pectoral base; pectorals large; fins without spines; no pelvic fins; dorsal 13-15; anal rays 13-14; pectoral rays 22-25; body and head covered with numerous long (> eye), erectible, 2-rooted, slender, round spines; 12-16 spines in an approximate row from top of snout to dorsal fin; anterior middle spines on top of head longer than longest spines posterior to pectoral fins; no spines on tail base.

Light olive to pale brown, shading to white ventrally; small black spots on upper two-thirds of head and body; a brown bar from above to below eye; a broad brown bar across occipital region and another across middle of back; a large oval brown blotch above each pectoral fin and another around dorsal-fin base; fins plain.

Size: attains 50 cm.

Inhabits reefs and open sand-rubble bottoms.

Depth: 1-100 m.

Circumtropical distribution; southern California to the Gulf of California to northern Peru and all the offshore islands.

Distribution ¹⁰

circumtropical in distribution; Western Atlantic: Near Georges Bank to Brazil

Morphology ¹¹

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13 - 15; Analspines: 0; Analsoft rays: 13 - 15

Size ¹²

Maximum size: 500 mm TL

Description ¹³

Inhabits shallow reefs to open, soft bottoms to at least 100 m . Also in areas with rocky substrata. Sometimes forms groups (Ref. 9710). Juveniles pelagic to about 6-9 cm. Solitary. Feeds on molluscs, sea urchins, hermit crabs and crabs at night (Ref. 9680). A relatively poor swimmer (Ref. 9710).

I dnature guides ¹⁴

Identification key for shorefishes of the tropical eastern Pacific

Habitat ¹⁵

Known from seamounts and knolls

Diet ¹⁶

Feeds on mollusks, sea urchins, hermit crabs, and crabs at night

Reproduction ¹⁷

Diodon liturosus reproduces through sexual processes, just like most other fish. Sexual reproduction maintains genetic diversity within the species, which is important for preventing disease and adapting to changes in the environment over time. During spawning season, a male pushes a female to the surface and they immediately spawn (FLMNH). The round eggs float in the water. Until they are 10 days old, D. liturosus larvae retain a thin shell covering, which is then lost (FLMNH). At this time, D. liturosus begins to develop spines. The larvae metamorphosize after about 3 weeks (FLMNH). After this metamorphosis, fins and fin rays are present, the teeth are formed, and adult olive and brown coloring develops (FLMNH). Dark spots appear on the belly, which may help camouflage the juveniles in floating sargassum from underwater predators such as the mahi mahi (FLMNH). The juvenile loses this underside spotting when it reaches the adult stage. At this point in development, spine elongation and body growth occur. The larval stage of D. liturosus is yellow with red spots and well-developed functional mouth, eyes and gas bladder (FLMNH ).

Link to Access Genomic Data ¹⁸

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=229062&lvl=0

Sources and Credits

(c) Kevin Bryant, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/mentalblock/5253911101/
(c) Nemo's great uncle, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/maynard/14656139057/
(c) 104623964081378888743, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by 104623964081378888743, https://picasaweb.google.com/104623964081378888743/20120104DisneylandSnowflakes#5726712549507386114
(c) Kevin Bryant, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/mentalblock/5253913571/
(c) Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7029/6721870133_ea557ece33_o.jpg
(c) John E. Randall, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://d1iraxgbwuhpbw.cloudfront.net/images/species/dihol_u1.jpg
(c) John E. Randall, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://d1iraxgbwuhpbw.cloudfront.net/images/species/dihol_u5.jpg
Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diodon_holocanthus
Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) Shorefishes of the tropical eastern Pacific online information system. www.stri.org/sftep, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/26218695
Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) WoRMS for SMEBD, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://eol.org/data_objects/28472404
Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) FishBase, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/21013401
Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) FishWise Professional, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/24185824
Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) WoRMS for SMEBD, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://eol.org/data_objects/28496001
Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) Discover Life and original sources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/11586041
Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) WoRMS for SMEBD, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://eol.org/data_objects/28486761
Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) WoRMS for SMEBD, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://eol.org/data_objects/28476819
Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/18644997

More Info

Range Map

(c) Shorefishes of the tropical eastern Pacific online information system. www.stri.org/sftep, some rights reserved (CC-BY-NC)

iNat Map

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