''Feroxodon multistriatus'', known as the manystriped blowfish, manystriped pufferfish,Froese, R., and D. Pauly, eds. (2012)

FishBase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

. April 2012 version. scribbled toadfish, or ferocious pufferfish, is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

in the pufferfish family,

Tetraodontidae Tetraodontidae is a family of marine and freshwater fish in the order Tetraodontiformes. The family includes many familiar species variously called pufferfish, puffers, balloonfish, blowfish, blowers, blowies, bubblefish, globefish, swellfish, ...

, distributed in the Indo-West Pacific. It is the only member of the

monotypic genus In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

''Feroxodon''. The fish has sloping, thin, brown and white lines on the head and body curving toward the tail. The lower head, body and

caudal peduncle Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...

are spotted. The maximum size is reported as to . The fish occurs throughout the Indo-Western Pacific, including

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

, and is recorded from

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

south to

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. In spite of its small size, this fish is known to make unprovoked attacks on humans, the inspiration for the common name ferocious pufferfish. One such attack near

Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately ...

, Queensland, Australia, caused severe damage to the toes of a five-year-old boy.

This fish "inhabits shallow inshore waters and offshore soft bottoms. Feeds on fish and invertebrates. Highly toxic and is responsible for amputation of swimmers toes."

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2260386 Tetraodontidae Fish described in 1854 Taxa named by John Richardson (naturalist) Monotypic marine fish genera