Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecologia
marino; salmastro associati a barriera corallina; distribuzione batimetrica ? - 48 m (Ref. 9710). Subtropical; 42°N - 35°S, 98°W - 34°W
Western Atlantic to Southwest Atlantic: Rhode Island, USA to southeastern Brazil.
Length at first maturity / Size / Peso / Age
Maturity: Lm 10.8 range ? - ? cm
Max length : 38.8 cm TL maschio/sesso non determinato; (Ref. 26340); common length : 20.0 cm TL maschio/sesso non determinato; (Ref. 3821); peso massimo pubblicato: 400.00 g (Ref. 5217)
Spine dorsali (totale) : 0; Raggi dorsali molli (totale) : 11 - 12; Spine anali: 0; Raggi anali molli: 11. Greenish above, pale yellow to white below; back has series of pale lines and arcs suggesting concentric circles with intersecting lines. No other puffer has this color pattern (Ref. 26938).
Commonly found in bays, tidal creeks and protected coastal waters, especially on seagrass beds, and in brackish water. Rare or absent on coral reefs. Does not form schools, but may form huge aggregates. Hides in the sand when frightened (Ref. 9710). Feeds mainly on bivalves, gastropods, foraminiferans and several other benthic invertebrates specially crustaceans, which it crushes with its powerful teeth (Ref. 35237). To ward off predators, it inflates itself like a balloon. Highly toxic; used to poison cats and dogs (Ref. 2861).
Spawning season is from late spring to early fall at Biscayne Bay, Florida. Mean length at first maturity is over 13 cm TL.
Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray, 1986. A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p. (Ref. 7251)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)
Threat to humans
Poisonous to eat (Ref. 3821)
Human uses
Pesca: di nessun interesse
Strumenti
Special reports
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Fonti Internet
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 22.9 - 28, mean 25.6 °C (based on 472 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.02089 (0.01739 - 0.02511), b=2.93 (2.88 - 2.98), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.4 ±0.41 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 2.2 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 2
growth studies.
Resilienza (Ref.
120179): Basso, tempo minimo di raddoppiamento della popolazione 4.5 - 14 anni (K=0.51; rel. fec=1.146 eggs/ g body weight).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (22 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref.
124155): Calcium = 32.1 [11.0, 104.4] mg/100g; Iron = 0.721 [0.352, 1.490] mg/100g; Protein = 19.9 [17.7, 22.1] %; Omega3 = 0.248 [0.115, 0.488] g/100g; Selenium = 17.2 [7.6, 39.1] μg/100g; VitaminA = 29.4 [8.7, 102.1] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.919 [0.596, 1.423] mg/100g (wet weight);
