Whitespotted Puffer

About

The broadbarred toadfish (Arothron hispidus) is probably better known in the hobby under the name stars-and-stripes puffer, and once you see one it's easy to understand why that name stuck. The body is covered in a mosaic of white spots and pale bars against a darker background, giving it a look that's immediately recognizable. In the wild, this species ranges across a huge swath of the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea and East Africa all the way to Hawaii and parts of the Eastern Pacific, turning up on outer reef slopes, lagoon flats, sandy rubble zones, and even into estuaries and seagrass beds. Juveniles especially tend to hang around weedy, sheltered coastal areas before moving to more open reef environments as they grow. Adults are typically solitary and can be territorial, which is worth keeping in mind when planning tankmates. Their diet in nature is impressively varied. Corals, sponges, mollusks, crabs, tube worms, and echinoderms are all fair game, and that powerful beak never really stops working. In a home aquarium this means anything slow-moving or sessile is at risk, so reef setups are generally not a good fit. This species grows large and needs serious space, but for a fish-only system it's a rewarding and long-lived companion.