The masked puffer (''Arothron diadematus'') is a

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 ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

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, ...

Distribution

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

only.

Description

Maximum length 30 cm, olive-green/grey with a black mask over the eyes and pectoral fins, mouth has a black border.Siliotti, A. (2002) ''fishes of the red sea'' Verona, Geodia Usually solitary but schools during mating period. Some authors believe this to be a variation of the species ''

Arothron nigropunctatus ''Arothron'' is a genus in the pufferfish family (biology), family Tetraodontidae found in warm parts of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean. These species are sometimes kept in aquarium, aquaria. The largest species is ''A. stellatus'', which ...

''.

Habitat

Associated with

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in group ...

s, from surface to 20m depth.

Gallery

Pez globo (Arothron diadematus), parque nacional Ras Muhammad, Egipto, 2022-03-27, DD 163.jpg, Masked puffer face detail Image:Arothron diademata sleeping.JPG, Masked puffer at night, resting (sleeping?) on a

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

outcrop Pez globo (Arothron diadematus), parque nacional Ras Muhammad, Egipto, 2022-03-26, DD 30.jpg, View of the back

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1754712 Arothron Fish of the Red Sea Fish described in 1829