Arothron is a genus of pufferfish that belongs to the family Tetraodontidae. Arothron species inhabit coastal waters, with the exception of A. firmamentum. While they are highly toxic due to the presence of tetrodotoxin, several species are eaten in Japan. Arothron species are sometimes kept in aquaria.
Distribution They have a wide range of distribution being found in warm parts of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean. Evolution
The oldest described specimens of this genus are dated to the early Pleistocene epoch around 1.95-1.35 million years ago. They were uncovered in the Liuchungchi Formation in southern Taiwan. They are semi-articulated specimens with nearly complete skulls that show characteristic beak-like jaws.
Description
The largest species is A. stellatus, which can reach in length.
They can be distinguished from other genera of pufferfish through the combination of the presence of a bifurcated fleshy protuberance at each nostril, and a single continuous lateral line on each side of the body without a branch above the anus.Mishra, Subhrendu & Chakraborty, Priyankar & Yardi, Kranti. (2021). New record of white-spotted pufferfish Arothron hispidus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Tetraodontiformes: Tetraodontidae) from West Bengal, India, compared with other Arothron species occurring in India. Journal of Fisheries. 9. 93401. 10.17017/j.fish.332. While Chelonodon and Tetraodon also have the bifurcated nostril tentacles, their lateral lines branch down towards the anus.
Two species in particular, A. meleagris and A. nigropunctatus, are especially polymorphic. Alongside their typical forms, they also have fully yellow forms, as well as forms intermediate between the two.
Species There are currently 14 recognized species in this genus: +ImageSpeciesCommon nameArothron caeruleopunctatus Matsuura, 1994Blue-spotted pufferArothron carduus (Cantor, 1849)Arothron diadematus (Rüppell, 1829)Masked pufferArothron firmamentum (Temminck & Schlegel, 1850)Starry pufferArothron hispidus (Linnaeus, 1758)White-spotted pufferArothron immaculatus (Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801)Immaculate pufferArothron inconditus J. L. B. Smith, 1958Belly-striped pufferArothron manilensis (Marion de Procé, 1822)Narrow-lined pufferArothron mappa (Lesson, 1831)Map pufferArothron meleagris (Anonymous, referred to Lacépède, 1798)Guineafowl pufferArothron multilineatus Matsuura, 2016Many-lined pufferArothron nigropunctatus (Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801)Black-spotted pufferArothron reticularis (Bloch & J. G. Schneider, 1801)Reticulated pufferArothron stellatus (Anonymous, referred to Lacépède, 1798)Stellate puffer Synonyms Arothron aerostaticus (Jenyns, 1842) valid as Arothron stellatus Arothron gillbanksii (Clarke, 1897) valid as Arothron firmamentum Arothron leopardus (Day, 1878) valid as Chelonodon leopardus Arothron perspicillaris (Rüppell, 1829) valid as Arothron hispidus
References