AsiaNear threatened
Japanese pufferfish
Takifugu rubripes
A fish that blows itself up into a ball when it's in danger. In Japan it's called fugu.
- Weight
- Usually 1–3 kg
- Size
- Up to 75 cm long
- Lifespan
- About 10 years
- Top speed
- Slow swimmer
- Diet
- Crabs, shellfish, small fish
How heavy is that?
About 8% of a 40 kg kid
Where it lives
Three things to know
- It fills its stretchy stomach with water to become too big to swallow.
- Its body contains a very strong poison.
- Four fused teeth form a beak that crunches shells.
Compare with…
- Weight
- Japanese pufferfish3 kgA 10-year-old kid40 kgThe kid weighs about 13× as much as the pufferfish
- Size
- Japanese pufferfish75 cmA 10-year-old kid1.4 mThe kid is about 1.9× as big as the pufferfish
- Top speed
- Japanese pufferfish—A 10-year-old kid20 km/hToo slow to time
- Lifespan
- Japanese pufferfish10 yrsA 10-year-old kid80 yrsThe kid can live about 8× as long as the pufferfish
Food chain
- Tiny algaeProducer
- Crabs
Japanese pufferfishThis animal