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/The Conscientious Marine Aquarist
Sharpnose
Puffers, aka Tobies, Subfamily Canthigastrinae
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By Bob Fenner |
A pair of Canthigaster jactator
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The Sharpnose Puffers or Tobies, subfamily Canthigastrinae are laterally compressed, taller than wide in cross section and have
limited inflation capabilities. There is but a single genus Canthigaster, and
it members are readily identified
by their elongated, pointed snouts. Canthigasters make for hardy, small (most
are less than four
inches), undemanding tankmates... as long as they're not placed with fishes or invertebrates that they can "nip" chunks out of.
Here we'll highlight the most commonly
available species of Tobies in the aquarium interest.
A species
regularly offered is the Ambon Sharpnose Canthigaster amboinensis (Bleeker 1865). I also like the science of ichthyology's name
for this species, "Spider-Eye Puffer" for obvious reasons.
Tropical eastern Pacific and Indo-Pacific. To six inches long in the wild.
Here's one in captivity, another in Hawai'i..
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Canthigaster bennetti (Bleeker 1854), Bennett's
Sharpnose Puffer. Indo-Pacific, Africa's eastern coast. To four inches in
length. Eats filamentous and coralline algae, as well as benthic invertebrates.
Pictured: specimens in the Maldives, N. Sulawesi and Cook Islands. |
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Canthigaster callisterna (Ogilby 1889), the Clown
Toado. Southwest Pacific, including Australia. To nine inches.
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No pic |
Canthigaster
compressa (Marion de Proce 1822), the Compressed Toby. Western
Pacific. To four inches in length. Image of a male and pair in N. Sulawesi
(Lembeh Strait).
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Canthigaster coronata (Vaillant & Sauvage 1875),
the Crowned Puffer. Another regular offering from this genus/subfamily.
Indo-west Pacific, Red Sea out to Hawai'i. To five
inches in the wild. This image made off of Kona, Hawai'i's Big Island.
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Canthigaster cyanetron Randall & Cea-Egana 1989.
Southeast Pacific, Easter Island.
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No pic |
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Canthigaster epilampra (Jenkins 1903), the Lantern Toby. Indo-Pacific. To five inches in length. This one off of Hawai'i's Big
Island.
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| Canthigaster flavoreticulata Matsuura 1986.Western
central Pacific on the Tonga submarine ridge. |
No pic |
| Canthigaster inframacula Allen & Randall 1977.
Eastern central Pacific, the Hawaiian Islands. |
No pic |
| Canthigaster investigatoris (Annondale & Jenkins
1910). Indo-west Pacific, Indonesia. |
No pic |
| Canthigaster jactator (Jenkins 1901), Hawaiian
Sharpnose Puffer. Hawaiian endemic. To three inches in length. This
one in the 50th State's waters. |
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| Canthigaster janthinoptera (Bleeker 1855), the
Honeycomb Toby. Indo-Pacific, east African coast. To three inches in
length. In the Galapagos. |
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| Canthigaster leoparda Lubbock & Allen 1979, the
Leopard Sharpnose Puffer. Indo-Australian distribution. To two inches
long. |
No pic |
| Canthigaster margaritata (Ruppell 1829), the Pearl
Toby. Indo-west Pacific and Red Sea. To five inches overall length. |
No pic |
| Canthigaster marguesensis Allen & Randall 1977.
East central Pacific: Marquesas. |
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| Canthigaster ocellicincta Allen & Randall 1977,
the Shy Toby. Western Pacific. To two and a half inches in length. |
No pic |
| Canthigaster papua (Bleeker 1848). Eastern Indian
Ocean. To about four inches maximum length. This one off of KBR, N.
Sulawesi. |
 
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| Canthigaster punctata Matsuura 1992. Western Indian
Ocean. Deepwater. |
No pic |
| Canthigaster punctatissima (Gunther 1870), the
Spotted Sharpnose Puffer. Eastern Pacific. The Pacific C. punctatissimus and Hawaiian C. jactator
are almost copies of each other, white spotted against a brown background. The
more eastern species is darker. To about three inches in length. Shown
here at Baja's tip (Cabo San Lucas) and the Galapagos. |
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| Canthigaster pygmaeus Allen &
Randall, 1977, the Pygmy Toby (to two inches long). Western Indian Ocean
and Red Sea. Here's one of this shy species individuals in the Merre
Rouge. |
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| Canthigaster rapaensis Allen & Randall 1977.
Southwestern Pacific, French Polynesia's Rapa Island. |
No pic |
| Canthigaster rivulata (Temminck & Schlegel 1850),
the Brown-Lined Puffer. Indo-west Pacific. To seven inches long. |
No pic |
| Canthigaster rostrata (Bloch 1786), simply called the
Sharpnose Puffer. Tropical west Atlantic species, common and
inexpensive. To five inches. Eats mainly seagrass (and some invertebrates) in
the wild. Specimens below of a male and female in the Bahamas and Cozumel shown,
and a male and female in Bonaire. |
| Canthigaster sanctaehelenae (Gunther 1870). Eastern
Atlantic, around Morocco. |
No pic |
| Canthigaster smithae Allen & Randall 1977, the
Bicolored Toby. Western Indian Ocean. To five inches. |
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Canthigaster solandri (Richardson 1845), the Spotted Sharpnose Puffer.
Indo-Pacific; replaced by C. margaritata in the Red Sea. To five inches.
Pictured: Aquarium, Cook Islands, N. Sulawesi and Fiji specimens.
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| Canthigaster tyleri Allen & Randall 1977, Tyler's
Toby. Indian Ocean. Replaced by C. leoparda in the Pacific. To
three and a half inches in length. |
No pic |
| Canthigaster valentini (Bleeker 1853),
Valentini's Sharpnose Puffer has a filefish mimic. You have
to look close to discern Paraluterus prionurus even when accidentally shipped mixed
in with valentine's puffer; as a file it has a two-spine dorsal that the puffers lack.
This is a type of Batesian mimicry, with the file suffering less predation by pretending
to be an unpalatable puffer. Two images of each, in the wild and aquariums of
the Sharpnose Puffer (first two) and mimic Filefish. |
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Bibliography/Further Reading:
Allen, Gerald R. 1976. Sharpnose Puffers. TFH 1/76.
Michael, Scott W. 1991. An aquarist's guide to the Tobies (Genus Canthigaster),
pts. 1,2. FAMA 1,2/91.
Michael, Scott W. 1995. Get to know the Tobies. AFM 10/95.
Parker, Nancy J. 1978. Maki-maki or the deadly death. Marine Aquarist 8:5,
78.
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