Night before Project is Due (& Post-correction, Needs More Help Than This!) 5/9/05
Hello I'm Ashley. I was just wondering what happens to puffer fish eggs after they are fertilized by the male because I'm doing a project on them and cannot find the answer anywhere.
<They have a better chance of hatching <G>. They also generally float for some time>
I got most of my reproduction info from you guys, but I couldn't find the answer on your website Please write back as soon as possible since the project is due tomorrow. thanks :) 
<Do also use fishbase.org as a great reference. Follow the links and references on each page... a wealth of information! Anthony> 

Striped Pufferfish laying eggs! Help!(5/4/04)
Hello,
<Good Evening Leslie here tonight.>
My saltwater striped puffer just laid eggs
<WOW How cool. I am assuming you are referring to a Arothron manilensis usually referred to as a Stripped Puffer and  that you have somehow acquired a pair. I don't know of anyone keeping a mated pair or of these fish being bred and raised in captivity.>  and I don't know what to do.
<I am afraid there is not much you can do >  
I collected what I could in a breeder container, and put them in the same tank.
<Sounds like a good first step>
Do they need to be fertilized by a male, <Yup they most certainly do> if so, how can I move the process along without the male (or any other fish) eating the eggs?
< I don't think you can. Most folks that breed fish keep the breeding pair in a separate system and when the eggs are released and fertilized  they are then usually separated.
You can try The Breeder's Registry here  
http://www.breeders-registry.gen.ca.us/>
Thanks for your help in advance! Chris.
<Sorry; wish I could have helped more, Leslie>

Sex of Diodon holocanthus
I just purchased a puffer fish (Diodon holocanthus) and he/she is about 4 inches. How can I tell what her/his gender is?
<Hi Heather,  It's a question that is asked all the time, but sadly we don't have an answer for.  None of the experts in the Puffer Community have figured out a way to tell the sex of a holocanthus (Common Porcupine Puffer).  There are many rumors around it...  the spots on the body, the length of the spines on the forehead, the ratio of the size of the eyes to the body...  All of these ideas sound like it could be something... but sadly there really isn't any way to know for sure, outside of having it checked with blood sample at a lab.  Which I'm quite sure could be done, but the cost would be rather high.  out of the 150+ species of puffer around the world (from freshwater to Marine) there are only a handful of them that actually show Sexual Dimorphism (males females look different).  Almost all are found in the freshwater species.  Wish there was a way to tell exactly, but as it stands now it's just a guess.  Thanks -Magnus>