''Guentheridia formosa'', the spotted puffer, 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), ...
of
pufferfish
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, swellfis ...
native to the coasts of the eastern
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
from
Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
to
Ecuador
Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...
. This species grows to a length of
TL. It is the only known 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 ...
''Guentheridia''.
Other common names for the fish include in
French and and in
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
.
[
]
Description
The spotted puffer has a white body with dense dark spots on its back and sides in various patterns, with variable yellowish markings. Its head is wider than it is deep, and is convex between the eyes. It has a single dorsal fin at its rear, a similar-shaped anal fin below, and in front of the pectoral fin it has a slit-like gill opening. The spotted puffer's tail fin is generally straight, and can be dusky or greenish.
Habitat
Found in coastal shallow water at depths between 0–10 m, generally at the bottom on soft substrate such as mud or sand.
References
External links
Tetraodontidae
Taxa named by Charles Henry Gilbert
Taxa named by Edwin Chapin Starks
Taxa named by Albert Günther
Fish of the Pacific Ocean
Fish described in 1870
{{Tetraodontiformes-stub