''Pao suvattii'',Kottelat, M. (2013)
The Fishes of the Inland Waters of Southeast Asia: A Catalogue and Core Bibliography of the Fishes Known to Occur in Freshwaters, Mangroves and Estuaries.
''The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 2013, Supplement No. 27: 1–663.'' or Arrowhead 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), ...

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 ...

. It is a medium-sized pufferfish, reaching SL. It is also known as a Pignose Puffer or a Mekong Puffer. It is locally common in the Lower

Mekong The Mekong or Mekong River ( , ) is a transboundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth-longest river and the third-longest in Asia with an estimated length of and a drainage area of , discharging of wat ...

basin, and is exclusively a freshwater fish. The specific name honours Thai ichthyologist

Chote Suvatti Chote Suvatti (, 24 February 1905 – ''?'') was a Thai ichthyologist. He worked at the Department of Fisheries during its foundational years, and became a professor at Kasetsart University Kasetsart University (; ; commonly Kaset or KU) is a ...

, former professor of

Kasetsart University Kasetsart University (; ; commonly Kaset or KU) is a public university, public research university in Bangkok, Thailand. It is the largest university in Thailand. It was Thailand's first agriculture, agricultural university and Thailand's third ...

, who collected the type specimen at Mekong.

In captivity

''P. suvatti'' is among the most aggressive of puffers in captivity. Just Like their saltwater cousins,''P. suvatti'' contains

tetrodotoxin Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a potent neurotoxin. Its name derives from Tetraodontiformes, an Order (biology), order that includes Tetraodontidae, pufferfish, porcupinefish, ocean sunfish, and triggerfish; several of these species carry the toxin. Alt ...

within their skin, organs and teeth. Normally when ''P. suvatti'' are kept as pets they must be kept in an

aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

by themselves as they have a tendency to always be aggressive and hungry,The Puffer Forum • The Puffer Library » The Arrowhead Puffer: Maliciously Miraculous
/ref> unless they are well-fed, and thus they will nibble on the other fish's tails, and occasionally will make a meal of the other fish. Because of the Suvatti's eating habits, it should normally only be fed every other day. During a feeding the Suvatti will shoot up to the surface and guzzle down large amounts of food causing it to double in size. The Arrowhead Puffer can be purchased at most pet stores that carry exotic fishes for around 20–30 USD. Basic care would include the feeding of live fish, gut-loaded ghost shrimp, crayfish, and perhaps raw shrimp or

mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...

s. Never overfeed the fish or give it red meat or chicken as this can lead to fatty liver disease, which is usually fatal. For a single species aquarium this fish would make a great pet, and they have been known to live up to 10 years in a well-maintained aquarium - which, as with all puffers, means water changes of 50% each week, with good water movement and absolutely no

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the chemical formula, formula . A Binary compounds of hydrogen, stable binary hydride and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinctive pu ...

nitrite The nitrite polyatomic ion, ion has the chemical formula . Nitrite (mostly sodium nitrite) is widely used throughout chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The nitrite anion is a pervasive intermediate in the nitrogen cycle in nature. The name ...

s, and minimal nitrates. this puffer species can also be aggressive towards humans. It's a dangerous pufferfish which has a tendency to bite humans with its sharp four teeth, fused together like a beak. They may attack humans by biting them when threatened. So in the wild and in aquarium, it's a dangerous fish which are both aggressive against both humans and other aquarium fishes. However, it's not as aggressive and dangerous towards humans as Feroxodon Multistriatus aka the Ferocious Puffer and Fang's Puffer ('' P. cochinchinensis'')

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3754390 Tetraodontidae Fish described in 1989 Fish of the Mekong Basin Fish of Cambodia Fish of Laos Fish of Thailand Fish of Vietnam Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN