How does puffer fish puff

He remembers these fish were a lot different than the bass or flounder he usually caught. The yellowish puffer fish had spines around its body, puffy cheeks, and a little beak-like mouth. One idea scientists have about the pufferfish is its puffiness is a defense against predators, Dowd explained. If puffer fish are swimming, they gulp water into a special sack near their belly. But if they are frightened while in the air, perhaps while being fished out of the water, they will also gulp in air.

Some puffers have sharp spikes that can get caught in a net so keep the netting out of the water. Follow the puffer with the net, continuing to tap it. This will eventually either scare or anger the fish into puffing up. It may not puff up all the way at first so you may need to tap it again. By using the site, you agree to the uses of cookies and other technology as outlined in our Policy, and to our Terms of Use. Tap the puffer with the handle of the net.

It will probably just swim away. Studies of the Long-spine porcupinefish Diodon holacanthus show it has evolved a stretchy stomach which has lost its digestive function to allow it to puff up. The stomach, which has a special lining, is large and folds back on itself within an enlarged cavity in the peritoneum — a membrane within the abdominal cavity.

When the puffer is threatened, the stomach expands into the peritoneal space and the stomach unfolds to fill gaps beneath the head, dorsal, anal fin and caudal peduncle. The fish balloons and the spines that lie on the surface of its skin stick out, making it a highly unattractive meal!