Sealife guideThe bandtail pufferSphoeroides spengleri
Taxonomy
- Common name: Bandtail puffer
- French name: Poisson ballon à collier
- Spanish name: Botete collarete,corrotucho mataperros
- Scientific name: Sphoeroides spengleri (Bloch, 1785)
- Family name: Tetraodontidae
- Order name: Tetraodontiformes
- Class name: Actinopterygii
Description
The bandtail puffer is a small-sized fish, typically around four inches in length. Its stocky body has a whitish ventral side while its dorsal side is dark, ranging from greenish to brown, with darker or even whitish spots scattered across it. These features are separated by a whitish line superimposed with a line of dark spots, both located along its flanks.
The bandtail puffer has large, bulging eyes and a prominent mouth with thick visible teeth.
Range
The bandtail puffer frequents the waters of the northwest Atlantic ocean, from Massachusetts in the north to Brazil in the south, via the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean sea.
The bandtail puffer is found particularly along the Florida coast.
Habitat
The bandtail puffer lives close to or even on sandy bottoms or in seagrass beds where it easily blends in with its surroundings.
Diet
The bandtail puffer is an opportunistic carnivore that primarily feeds on small invertebrates it finds in sandy bottoms or seagrass beds, such as small crustaceans like shrimp, crabs, or copepods, and small mollusks like gastropods and bivalves, which it crushes with its powerful jaw equipped with thick teeth.
More rarely, it feeds on small fish.
Did you know ?
The bandtail puffer is listed as many other marine species within The
IUCN Red List of threatened species. The bandtail puffer appears in the
IUCN Red List since 2014 within the category Least Concern !
Within the same genus
Checkered puffer
(Sphoeroides testudineus)
Within the same family
Valentin's sharpnose puffer
(Canthigaster valentini)
White-spotted puffer
(Arothron hispidus)
Blackspotted puffer
(Arothron nigropunctatus)
Starry pufferfish
(Arothron stellatus)
Immaculate pufferfish
(Arothron immaculatus)
Masked puffer
(Arothron diadematus)
Narrow lined pufferfish
(Arothron manilensis)
Pearl toby
(Canthigaster margaritata)
Explore also
Yellowstriped cardinalfish
(Ostorhinchus cyanosoma)
Yellowmouth barracuda
(Sphyraena viridensis)
Snowflake moray
(Echidna nebulosa)
Blacktail angelfish
(Centropyge eibli)
Copperbanded butterfly
(Chelmon rostratus)
Eastern red scorpionfish
(Scorpaena jacksoniensis)
Midnight snapper
(Macolor macularis)
Gray snapper
(Lutjanus griseus)
The marine species from northwestern Atlantic ocean
Blue striped grunt
(Haemulon sciurus)
Glasseye snapper
(Heteropriacanthus cruentatus)
Green sea turtle
(Chelonia mydas)
Hogfish
(Lachnolaimus maximus)
Schoolmaster snapper
(Lutjanus apodus)
Slender filefish
(Monacanthus tuckeri)
Smooth trunkfish
(Rhinesomus triqueter)
Spotted goatfish
(Pseudupeneus maculatus)
Our latestUpdates
Monday, April 14th 2025
The bigeye trevally
The bigeye trevally has a silver-colored body with, as its name suggests, larger eyes compared to other trevally species. It is distinguished from other trevally species by the slightly yellowish color of its tail.
Monday, April 7th 2025
Best things to do in Miami
A flagship city of Florida, Miami is a dream destination where paradise beaches, a vibrant Latino atmosphere and a buzzing nightlife come together. With its year-round sunshine, iconic Art Deco architecture and dynamic cultural scene, Miami has everything to captivate travelers in search of escape.
Sunday, March 23rd 2025
The plumose sea anemone
The plumose sea anemone is a key species in temperate and cold marine ecosystems. Its high adaptability, morphological diversity and reproductive strategies make it a crucial organism for understanding biological and ecological interactions in marine environments.
Photo of the Day
Poisson perroquet bicolore
(Scarus rubroviolaceus)
