Humpback puffer

Care at a glance

Overview

The humpback puffer is an aggressive ambush predator that spends long stretches lying still on the bottom, sometimes half-buried. A keeper with a little experience can manage it.

Caring for the humpback puffer

Give a single adult humpback puffer a tank of at least 32 gal (120 L). Keep the tank calm, with driftwood, roots, leaf litter and a soft substrate rather than strong currents. Use gentle filtration and dim light, and give it plenty of cover to lurk in.

It likes still, soft, slightly acidic to neutral water at 75 to 82°F (24 to 28°C) and a pH of 6.5 to 7.5. Like all puffers, it reacts badly to poor conditions, so keep the water steady and clean.

It is a very inactive fish that may only move at feeding time. Feed meaty foods such as snails, mussel, prawn and earthworms, and include hard-shelled items for its teeth.

The humpback puffer is aggressive and should be kept alone. Anything small enough to fit in its mouth is likely to be eaten, and larger fish are treated as a threat. Aquarium breeding is undocumented.

Good to know

The humpback puffer is a member of the family Tetraodontidae. It is now often placed in the genus Pao, was long known as Tetraodon palembangensis and is also called the dragon puffer. It has a knobbly, humped back and a mottled brown pattern that blends into wood and leaf litter. Like all true puffers, it has four fused, beak-like teeth and can inflate with water when threatened. Nearly all specimens are wild caught.

In the wild

The humpback puffer comes from slow, shaded fresh waters of Southeast Asia. There it lies among submerged roots and leaf litter, waiting to ambush fish.

Common questions

Related species

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