White-spotted Puffer Arothron hispidus

The White-spotted Puffer is native to reefs, lagoons and estuaries of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, including the eastern Pacific. (Another fish has the name of White-spotted Pufferfish, Torquigener albomaculosus, an amazing fish which draws artistic "crop circles" in the sand as a nest for eggs.)

It is grey-brown with white spots and a white underside and yellow fins. It grows to 50cm long. It eats fish, crustaceans, starfish, urchins, algae, coral and most small invertebrates.

Like all puffers, it can inflate its body like a ball to discourage predators. It also has a deadly toxin if eaten. It is solitary, mainly nocturnal and territorially aggressive.