Dogface puffer - coloured

The Stars and Stripes Toadfish is greenish brown or yellowish brown above with white underside. The back and upper sides of the body and tail are covered in small white spots. The lower sides and belly are marked with white to pale blue bars or lines. The base of the pectoral fins and gills are surrounded by light rings. The body is a typical pufferfish rounded box shape. The mouth is like a beak with teeth fused together into plates. The body has small spines except around the nose and tail.

Habitat: Found in coral reef slopes, inner reef flats and lagoons, coastal bays, estuaries, rocky reefs. Juveniles are common in weedy areas of estuaries. Swims at depths of 3m to 50m.

Food: Feeds on algae, coral, sponges, starfish, molluscs, anemones and other invertebrates

Range: The Stars and Stripes Toadfish is found in tropical and warm temperate waters throughout the Indo-Pacific. In Australia it is found from southern Western Australia, around Northern Territory, Queensland and south to central New South Wales.

Notes: Contains a potentially lethal poison (tetrodotoxin) in the skin and organs.