Reticulated pufferfish

Arothron reticularis

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth0–59 m
Water temperature20–30 °C
Best monthsJanuary, August, and October
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) Pauline Walsh Jacobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Arothron reticularis, variously known as the reticulated pufferfish, reticulated blowfish or reticulated toadfish, is a ray-finned fish in the family Tetraodontidae. It is native to the tropical and sub-tropical Indo-Pacific region where its habitats include sandy and muddy seabeds, coral reefs, estuaries and mangrove areas.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Arothron reticularis”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 28 records
February: 10 records
March: 17 records
April: 18 records
May: 20 records
June: 19 records
July: 18 records
August: 30 records
September: 17 records
October: 30 records
November: 17 records
December: 19 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–59 m · Deepest record: 81.5 m

0–10 m: 35 records
10–20 m: 3 records
20–30 m: 3 records
30–40 m: 5 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 3 records
60–70 m: 2 records
70–80 m: 1 records
80–90 m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 20–30 °C

20–22 °C: 2 records
22–24 °C: 0 records
24–26 °C: 7 records
26–28 °C: 28 records
28–30 °C: 56 records

Photos

(c) Matt B, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Ong Jyh Seng, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) vrxz, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Bernard DUPONT, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Reticulated pufferfish, Lined Toado, Reticulated Blowfish, Reticulated Blow Fish, Reticulated Puffer, reticulated pufferfish, Reticulated Toadfish, Reticulate Toadfish

Names in 7 more languages

German: Netzkugelfisch
Spanish: Botete reticulado
Filipino: Butete
Japanese: Wamonfugu, ワモンフグ
Korean: 그물무늬꺼끌복
Thai: ปลาปักเป้าลายตาข่าย
Simplified Chinese: 刺規, 網紋叉鼻魨

Other scientific names: Tetraodon reticularis, Tetrodon reticularis

Similar species

Bristly puffer
Arothron hispidus
Guineafowl puffer
Arothron meleagris
Narrow-lined toadfish
Arothron immaculatus
Narrow-lined Puffer
Arothron manilensis
Map puffer
Arothron mappa
Blackspotted puffer
Arothron nigropunctatus

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
168 open-data records from 1801 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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