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Deepwater burrfish

 

 
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Deepwater burrfish
 
 
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The deepwater burrfish, Allomycterus pilatus, is a porcupinefish
Porcupinefish

Porcupinefish are fish of the family Diodontidae, , also commonly called blowfish .They are sometimes confused with pufferfish....
 of the family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
 Diodontidae, found in the eastern Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
, and southern Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 and New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
, at depths of between 40 and 270 m. Its length is up to 60 cm.

The deepwater burrfish is superficially similar to the puffer
Puffer

Puffer may mean:* Inhaler, a medical device used for delivering medication into the body via the lungs* Pufferfish, a type of fish which can inflate itself as a defence mechanism...
s but has large permanently erect spines on the body and head, and has the neurotoxin
Neurotoxin

A neurotoxin is a toxin that acts specifically on nerve cells , usually by interacting with membrane proteins such as ion channels.Some sources are more general, and define the effect of neurotoxins as occurring at nerve tissue....
 Tetrodotoxin
Tetrodotoxin

Tetrodotoxin is a potent neurotoxin with no known antidote. Tetrodotoxin blocks action potentials in nerves by binding to the pores of the voltage-gated, fast sodium channels in neuron cell membrane....
 in the skin and intestines. It can inflate itself with water, becoming the shape and size of a large football.






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The deepwater burrfish, Allomycterus pilatus, is a porcupinefish
Porcupinefish

Porcupinefish are fish of the family Diodontidae, , also commonly called blowfish .They are sometimes confused with pufferfish....
 of the family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
 Diodontidae, found in the eastern Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
, and southern Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 and New Zealand
New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous Islands of New Zealand, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands....
, at depths of between 40 and 270 m. Its length is up to 60 cm.

The deepwater burrfish is superficially similar to the puffer
Puffer

Puffer may mean:* Inhaler, a medical device used for delivering medication into the body via the lungs* Pufferfish, a type of fish which can inflate itself as a defence mechanism...
s but has large permanently erect spines on the body and head, and has the neurotoxin
Neurotoxin

A neurotoxin is a toxin that acts specifically on nerve cells , usually by interacting with membrane proteins such as ion channels.Some sources are more general, and define the effect of neurotoxins as occurring at nerve tissue....
 Tetrodotoxin
Tetrodotoxin

Tetrodotoxin is a potent neurotoxin with no known antidote. Tetrodotoxin blocks action potentials in nerves by binding to the pores of the voltage-gated, fast sodium channels in neuron cell membrane....
 in the skin and intestines. It can inflate itself with water, becoming the shape and size of a large football. Propulsion is provided by rapid sculling movements of the small dorsal
Dorsal fin

A wikt:dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of some fish, whales, dolphins, and porpoises, as well as the ichthyosaurs. Its main purpose is to stabilize the animal against rolling and assist in sudden turns....
 and anal fins, assisted by the tail if extra speed is required. The gill
Gill

A gill is an anatomical structure found in many aquatic ecosystem organisms. It is a respiration organ whose function is the extraction of oxygen from water and the excretion of carbon dioxide....
 apertures are reduced to small holes high on the sides, immediately in front of the pectoral fins. Fused teeth form strong bony plates with sharp cutting edges and are used to crush the molluscs, crustacean
Crustacean

Crustaceans are a large group of arthropods, comprising almost 52,000 described species , and are usually treated as a subphylum . They include various familiar animals, such as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles....
s, and echinoderm
Echinoderm

Echinoderms are a Phylum of Marine animals . Echinoderms are found at every ocean depth, from the intertidal zone to the abyssal zone.Aside from the problematic Arkarua, the first definitive members of the phylum appeared near the start of the Cambrian period....
s on which these fish normally feed.

Coloration is grey-brown above and white on the belly with a number of irregular black-edged yellow patches on the back and flanks.