Relevant synonyms Diodon echinus Misidentification None Meristic formula D, 14-17; A, 14-16; P, 21-25  photo : John E. Randall

SHORT DESCRIPTION Body inflatable, elongated to globular. Scales modified in long spines, that lie against the body with their tips pointing posteriorly. After the body is inflated, they become fully erect. Spines on head are shorter than the longest spines behind the pectoral fins, between which are ca. 15 rows of spines dorsally and ca. 25 ventrally. 15-19 spines from snout to dorsal fin. Teeth fused to form an undivided beak of a single piece in each jaw (no median suture). Gill opening small and vertical, close to the pectoral fin base. Median fins rounded. color : in the pelagic phase the dorsal surface brown with black spots and the ventral white. The benthic fish is greenish-gray dorsally with small black spots on head, body and fins, shading to white ventrally. size : common 20-50 cm (max. 70 cm). DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Chilomycterus spilostylus: spines three-rooted and fixed in erect position. Tetraodontidae: teeth in each jaw fused, with median suture. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Juveniles (to about 20 cm) are pelagic; adults are benthic and associated with reef or shelf waters to 100 m, where they feed on molluscs, crabs and sea urchins. They have nocturnal habits, usually hiding in small caves during the day. habitat : bentho-pelagic.

1st MEDITERRANEAN RECORD Gulf of Taranto, 1963. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide : circumtropical. Recorded in the area of Gibraltar, at Tarifa. Mediterranean : recorded in the Gulf of Taranto (Torchio, 1963) ; early Mediterranean records from Rafinesque (1810) and others in Sicily were considered doubtful. ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Very rare. speculated reasons for success : - MODE OF INTRODUCTION Probably via Gibraltar. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES De Buen F., 1926. Catálogo ictiológico del Mediterráneo español y de Marruecos. Madrid: Commission Internationale pour l'exploration scientifique de la mer Méditerranée, 221 pp. Rafinesque-Schmaltz C.S., 1810. Caratteri di alcuni nuovi generi e nuove specie di animali e piante della Sicilia. Sanfilippo, Palermo: 105 pp. Torchio M., 1963. Accertata presenza di un rappresentante della famiglia Diodontidae in Mediterraneo. Atti della Società Italiana della Scienze Naturali, 102 (3): 277-281. FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

Last update of the species sheet: March 2001 ©ciesm 2002