Valentini Puffer
From ReefPedia
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[edit] Valentini PufferScientific Name Canthigaster valentini Max. Size: 4 inches Tank Size: 30 gallons Aggression: It will fight with filefish and other puffers, basically any conspecifics. It may also nip the fins of smaller fish. Hardiness: Relatively hardy Reef-Safe: Usually not Available as captive-bred: Not yet |
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Physical Description
It has a beak-like mouth structure and what look like two "buck" teeth. It has green eyes that are rimmed in orange. It has dark brown/black stripes on its body (2 complete and 1 that just goes down to its eyes) and a yellow tail and fins. Where there are no stripes it is white with light yellow-brown spots. Typically, its tail fin is not spread out, but every once in awhile it will fan its tail fin.
Distribution
Indo-Pacific
Taxonomic Stuff you know you Care About
- Domain: Eukaria
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Sub-phylum: Vertebrata
- Infra-phylum: Gnathostomata
- Super-class: Osteichthyes
- Class: Actinopterygii
- Order: Tetraodontiformes
- Family: Tetraodontidae
- Genus: Canthigaster
- Species: valentini
Behavior
Sleeps resting on a rock, usually in the same place each night. During the day it swims around the tank, every once in a while picking food off of a rock. It may also bite into the sand and then spit it out again in its search for food.
Feeding
It will eat frozen food, pellets and even flakes. Sometimes it will also eat snails, ornamental shrimp, coral and crabs, but not every fish of this species will. (Mine, for example, has not eaten any of the ornamental shrimp, emerald crabs or hermit crabs in its tank)
Breeding
Has not been observed to breed in captivity.
Social Structure
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Current Views
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Additional Notes
This puffer has a mimic filefish, Paraluterus prionurus. This is a type of Batesian mimicry, with the filefish attracting reduced predation by pretending to be an unpalatable puffer.
