Guinean Puffer

About

The Guinean puffer (Sphoeroides marmoratus) is a saltwater puffer ranging along the Eastern Atlantic coast from Portugal down through Angola, where it makes its home in shallow nearshore waters. Like all puffers, it carries the family's trademark mottled patterning across a stocky, rounded body, and it can inflate itself when threatened. A defense mechanism that never gets old to watch, even if you'd rather not stress your fish into demonstrating it. As a carnivore, it needs a diet of hard-shelled invertebrates like snails, clams, and crustaceans to keep its ever-growing beak-like teeth worn down to a healthy length. Neglecting this is one of the more common mistakes keepers make with puffer species. What makes this fish a reasonable choice for someone newer to marine fishkeeping is its relative hardiness compared to many saltwater species. Though you'll still want a well-established system before adding one. Plan around its long potential lifespan, because this is a fish that can be with you for well over a decade. Keep it with robust tankmates and be aware that, like most puffers, it can be nippy toward slower or more delicate companions.