TankBud

Stars-and-stripes puffer

Arothron hispidus

Also known as White-Spotted Puffer, White-Spotted Toadfish, Stars-and-Stripes Toadfish

SaltwaterFish

Stars-and-stripes puffer (Arothron hispidus)
Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0

Care at a glance

Temperature
75–81°F
24–27°C
pH
8.1–8.4
Adult size
19.7 in
50 cm
Minimum tank
180 gal
680 L
Temperament
Mostly peaceful
Social behavior
Solitary
Tankmates
With caution
Swim level
Bottom
Diet
Carnivore
Difficulty
Medium
Breeding
No record
Rarity
Common
Reef safe
Not reef safe
Family
Tetraodontidae
Origin
Indo-Pacific and eastern Pacific reefs, from the Red Sea and East Africa to Hawaii and Panama

Overview

The stars-and-stripes puffer is a big, mostly peaceful puffer for a fish-only or FOWLR tank. It is best with a little experience.

Did you know

The stars-and-stripes puffer has a reputation as one of the more intelligent and personable fish in the marine hobby. Keepers regularly describe it learning to recognize them individually and swimming up to the glass to beg at feeding time. That level of recognition is uncommon among aquarium fish.

Caring for the stars-and-stripes puffer

The stars-and-stripes puffer grows into one of the largest puffers in the hobby, so give it at least 180 gal (680 L). Leave open sand for foraging and rockwork it can circle without feeling boxed in. It eats snails, crabs, urchins and coral, so it is not reef safe.

Keep the water at 75 to 81°F (24 to 27°C) with a pH of 8.1 to 8.4. It is a heavy waste producer for its size, so strong filtration and a protein skimmer matter as much as the decor.

Feed a varied diet of clams, shell-on shrimp, squid and crab legs. Crunching through the shells wears its beak down naturally. Flake or soft frozen food alone will let the beak overgrow.

It is mostly peaceful with fish too large to fit in its mouth. Choose tank mates with caution, and pick ones too big to be seen as food. It is a solitary fish and needs no company of its own kind.

Good to know

The stars-and-stripes puffer carries the four-plate fused beak found across the puffer family Tetraodontidae. It also carries the family's tetrodotoxin, loaded into its liver, skin and other organs as a last-line defense if it is eaten. In the wild it can reach around 2 kg, though aquarium specimens usually stay smaller. White spots over an olive to gray body, plus white bars across the belly, give it its common name. The same pattern gives it a more clinical name, white-spotted puffer.

In the wild

The stars-and-stripes puffer is one of the most widely distributed pufferfish in the world. It lives on Indo-Pacific reefs from the Red Sea and East Africa to Hawaii and southern Japan. A separate population lives on the far side of the Pacific, from Baja California to Panama. Juveniles shelter in weedy estuaries and seagrass beds. Adults move out onto sandy and rubble patches near reefs and lagoons, at depths to about 50 m.

Common questions

What size tank does a stars-and-stripes puffer need?

A stars-and-stripes puffer needs at least 180 gal (680 L). It spends most of its time in the bottom.

What temperature and pH does a stars-and-stripes puffer need?

A stars-and-stripes puffer is comfortable at 75–81°F (24–27°C) with a pH of 8.1–8.4.

What does a stars-and-stripes puffer eat?

A stars-and-stripes puffer eats clams, shell-on shrimp, squid and crab legs. Crunching the shells keeps its beak worn down, which flake or soft frozen food alone cannot do.

How big does a stars-and-stripes puffer get?

An adult stars-and-stripes puffer reaches about 19.7 in (50 cm).

Related species