Blue-spotted Pufferfish Arothron caeruleopunctatus

The Blue-spotted Pufferfish is native to tropical reefs of the Indian and western Pacific Oceans. The body pattern is white or pale blue spots on a darker blue or blue-grey background (like a starry night, but the Starry or Stellate Puffer has dark spots on whitish), with a white/pale belly and circles around the eyes. A large pufferfish, it can grow to 80cm long. It is solitary and territorial.

The teeth/beak, which never stop growing, are/is for crustaceans, molluscs, other invertebrates, sponges, algae and coral. Like all pufferfish, it can inflate its body like a ball to discourage predators. It also has a deadly toxin if eaten.

Other puffers also have the name Blue-spotted Puffer, in particular two small "tobies", Canthigaster solandri also called the Jewel Puffer and Spotted Sharpnose and C. papua, the Papuan Toby.