Diodon holocanthus Linnaeus, 1758

Long-spine porcupinefish

Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL

Classification	Actinopterygii \| Tetraodontiformes \| Diodontidae
Synonyms	Diodon hystrix holocanthus, Atopomycterus bocagei, Diodon maculifer, ... more
Common names	Spiny puffer, Brown porcupine fish, Bloched porcupine fish, ... more

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Image of Diodon holocanthus (Long-spine porcupinefish)

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AquaMaps Data sources: GBIF OBIS

Main reference

Leis, J.M. 1984. (Ref. 3393)
Other references | Biblio | Coordinator | Collaborators

Size / Weight / Age

Max length : 50.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 7251); common length : 15.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 55763)

Environment

Reef-associated; marine; depth range 2 - 200 m (Ref. 5951), usually 2 - 35 m (Ref. 40849)

Climate / Range

Subtropical; 37°N - 39°S, 8°E - 55°W (Ref. 55210)

Circumtropical in distribution. Western Atlantic: Canada (Ref. 5951), Florida, USA and the Bahamas to Brazil (Ref. 7251). Eastern Atlantic: 30°N to 23°S (Ref. 6951); also South Africa (Ref. 4423). Western Indian Ocean: southern Red Sea to Madagascar, Reunion and Mauritius (Ref. 53568). Pacific Ocean: southern Japan south to Lord Howe Island and east to the Hawaiian and Easter islands (Ref. 37816). Also from southern California, USA to Colombia (Ref. 11482) and the Galapagos Islands (Ref. 5227).
Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Short description

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 13 - 15; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 13 - 15. Pelagic juveniles with spots, particularly prominent on belly; adults with dark blotches across back and spots between the blotches; fins without spots (Ref. 4423). 14 to 16 spines in an approximate row between snout and origin of dorsal fin; with a large brown bar above and below each eye; a broad transverse brown bar on occipital region of head (Ref. 13442).

Inhabit shallow reefs to open, soft bottoms. Also in areas with rocky substrata. Sometimes form groups (Ref. 9710, 48637). Occur on open muddy substrates as well as on rich soft-bottom and coral reefs. Juveniles often with floating Sargassum rafts. Young and sub-adults may form small groups (Ref. 48637). Benthopelagic (Ref. 58302). Juveniles pelagic to about 6-9 cm. Solitary. Feed on mollusks, sea urchins, hermit crabs, and crabs at night (Ref. 9680). Relatively poor swimmers (Ref. 9710). Used in Chinese medicine (Ref. 12166). Captured at the surface using a hand net (Ref. 26165).


IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 57073)	Threat to humans
Not Evaluated	Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 30303)

Human uses
Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: commercial


More information
Countries FAO areas Ecosystems Occurrences Introductions Ecology Diet Food items Food consumption Ration	Common names Synonyms Metabolism Predators Ecotoxicology Reproduction Maturity Spawning Eggs Egg development	Age/Size Growth Length-weight Length-length Length-frequencies Morphometrics Morphology Larvae Larval dynamics Recruitment	Other references Biblio Aquaculture Aquaculture profile Strains Genetics Allele frequencies Heritability Diseases Processing	Collaborators Pictures Stamps Sounds Ciguatera Speed Swim. type Gill area Otoliths Brains Vision

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Internet sources

Estimation of some characteristics with mathematical models

Resilience (Ref. 69278)


Vulnerability (Ref. 59153)	Price category (Ref. 80766)
Low to moderate vulnerability (28 of 100)	Not marketed/unknown

Entered by Binohlan, Crispina B.

Modified by Ortañez, Auda Kareen

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Page last modified by : elaxamana, 15 July 2009

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