TETRAODONTIDAE


Lagocephalus gloveri, 15.5 cm SL
(from Mie Pref., Japan; photo by Seishi Kimura)


Lagocephalus gloveri
Abe and Tabeta, 1983
Dark-back Golden Puffer

D 13-15; A 12; P1 15-16.

A patch of spinules on back between snout and halfway to dorsal fin origin; belly covered with spinules. Nostrils with 2 openings. Caudal fin double emarginate, middle part of caudal fin slightly producing posteriorly. Color: body dark brown dorsally, silvery white side and belly; caudal fin black with a white tip on dorsal and ventral corner. Size: maximum to 35 cm. Distribution: warm areas in eastern Indian Ocean and West Pacific from Japan southward to Thailand and Indonesia. Remarks: frequently confused with other species of Lagocephalus including a very dangerous toxic species, L. lunaris, having an enlarged patch of spinules on back reaching posterioly to dorsalfin origin.