The clown toado (''Canthigaster callisterna'') a

pufferfish Tetraodontidae is a family of primarily marine and estuarine fish of the order Tetraodontiformes. The family includes many familiar species variously called pufferfish, puffers, balloonfish, blowfish, blowies, bubblefish, globefish, swellfis ...

of the genus ''

Canthigaster ''Canthigaster'' is a genus in the pufferfish family (Tetraodontidae). A fish from this genus is sometimes referred to as a "toby" (a generally accepted name that originated in Australia) or a "sharpnose puffer". Species There are currently 37 ...

'', is found in the southwest

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

including

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, the northeast coast of

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and

New Caledonia ) , anthem = "" , image_map = New Caledonia on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of New Caledonia , map_caption = Location of New Caledonia , mapsize = 290px , subdivision_type = Sovereign st ...

. Its length is between 10 and 20 cm. The clown toado, like other puffers, is highly poisonous.

References

* * * Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, ''Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand'', (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) * Shao, K., Liu, M., Jing, L., Hardy, G., Leis, J.L. & Matsuura, K. 2014. Canthigaster callisterna. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014: e.T193709A2263843
https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T193709A2263843.en.
Accessed on 09 April 2022. callisterna Fish described in 1889 {{Tetraodontiformes-stub