"silver-cheeked toadfish blowfish, toadfish, swellfish, globefish, balloon fish "

Type Description

The silver-cheeked toadfish is very similar to the oceanic pufferfish but more elongated and with a symmetrical caudal (tail) fin. Its back is grey or brown with darker spots and it has a white belly. A characteristic silver band runs along the sides of the fish. The silver-cheeked toadfish can measure up to 40 centimetres (16 in).

Habitat

In its native range (in the Red Sea) the silver-cheeked toadfish lives on rocky bottoms from shallow coastal waters down to a 250 m depth (820 ft)

Reproductive Information

Eggs and larvae are found in the pelagic zone.

Lifecycle

Nutrition Information

The silver-cheeked toadfish preys upon benthic invertebrates.

General Impact Information

Similar to other puffer fishes, the silver-cheeked toadfish is extremely poisonous if eaten because it contains tetrodotoxin in its ovaries and to a lesser extent its skin, muscles and liver, which protects it from voracious predators. It becomes toxic as it eats bacteria that contain the toxin. This deadly substance causes paralysis of involuntary muscles, which may cause its victims to stop breathing or induce heart failure. Fatal intoxications have been reported in Egypt and Israel.

General Management Information

General Pathway Information

It is a recent Lessepsian migrant into the eastern Mediterranean Sea, which it reached through the Suez Canal, and it is spreading towards the western Mediterranean.

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