Pufferfishes, Boxfishes & Porcupinefishes - Reef Life of the Andaman - P...

This episode features fish from 3 families in the order of Tetraodontiformes, pufferfishes (Tetraodontidae), boxfishes (Ostraciidae), and porcupinefishes (Diodontidae). First we meet the blackspotted puffer, Arothron nigropunctatus, the most common pufferfish in the area, followed by the map puffer, Arothron mappa, at High Rock in the Mergui Archipelago. At Black Rock we encounter the blue-spotted puffer, Arothron caeruleopunctatus, and in Thailand we meet the largest pufferfish, the starry puffer, Arothron stellatus.

Next up is the yellow boxfish, Ostracion cubicus, as we trace its development from cute juvenile to adult. At the Similan Islands we discover the fantastic coloration of the whitespotted boxfish, Ostracion meleagris. And during a night dive at Thailand's Boonsong Wreck we meet the weird horn-nosed boxfish, Ostracion rhinorhynchos. Finally we take a look at the 3 common porcupinefishes in the Andaman Sea, the spot-fin porcupinefish, Diodon hystrix, the black-blotched porcupinefish, Diodon liturosus, and the long-spine porcupinefish, Diodon holocanthus. We learn how these species, like pufferfish, swell up into a ball when threatened.