Meristic formula D, 8-7; A, 6-7; P, 14-15

SHORT DESCRIPTION Body inflatable; when not inflated elongated and more or less round in cross section. Dorsal and anal fins opposite each other, posterior in position. Caudal fin truncated. Pectoral fin short and round, located behind the gill slit. Two large teeth in each jaw with median suture. The entire body except the caudal peduncle covered with small spinules. color : dark grey on the back with light grey to whitish belly. Dark spots scettered on the back and belly. common size : 5-15 cm (max. 20 cm). DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS Tetraodontidae – The body is either smooth or if spinules present they do not extend posteriorly beyond dorsal fin. Diodontidae – A single tooth in each jaw. BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY Not known. habitat : swim near the bottom at depths of 90-400 m.

1st MEDITERRANEAN RECORD Greece, Rhodes, 2005. DISTRIBUTION Worldwide : Indo-west Pacific from South Africa to Taiwan and Australia. Mediterranean : Greece, Rhodes (Southeastern Aegean Sea) (Corsini et al., 2005). ESTABLISHMENT SUCCESS Very rare, only a single juvenile specimen was collected in the Mediterranean. MODE OF INTRODUCTION Probably ballast water or escapee from the aquarium trade. Despite its Indo-west Pacific distribution this species was never recorded in the Red Sea. IMPORTANCE TO HUMANS None.

KEY REFERENCES Corsini M., Margies P., Kondilatos G. and Economidis P.E., 2005. Lessepsian migration of fishes to the Aegean Sea: first record of Tylerius spinosissimus (Tetraodontidae) from the Mediterranean, and six more fish recorded from Rhodes. Cybium, 29: 347-354. Golani D., Öztürk B. and Başusta N., 2006. Fishes of the Eastern Mediterranean. Turkish Marine Research Foundation, Publication no. 24, Istanbul, Turkey, 259 pp.    FEEDBACK / COMMENTS TO AUTHORS

Last update of the species sheet: January 2009 ©ciesm 2002