Blackspotted puffer

Arothron stellatus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth6–59 m
Water temperature18–29 °C
Best monthsAugust, September, and October
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Arothron stellatus, also known as the stellate pufferfish, starry puffer, or starry toadfish, is a demersal marine fish belonging to the family Tetraodontidae. It is found in shallow water in the Indo-Pacific region.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Arothron stellatus”, 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: 170 records
February: 187 records
March: 241 records
April: 251 records
May: 242 records
June: 202 records
July: 215 records
August: 256 records
September: 267 records
October: 262 records
November: 202 records
December: 185 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 6–59 m · Deepest record: 421 m

0–10 m: 35 records
10–20 m: 72 records
20–30 m: 33 records
30–40 m: 42 records
40–50 m: 16 records
50–60 m: 17 records
60–70 m: 3 records
70–80 m: 4 records
80–90 m: 10 records
90–100 m: 1 records
100–110 m: 2 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 18–29 °C

18–20 °C: 1 records
20–22 °C: 9 records
22–24 °C: 14 records
24–26 °C: 15 records
26–28 °C: 49 records
28–30 °C: 83 records

Photos

no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Pranav Chandra Bose, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Grete Pasch, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Juraj Ahel, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Peter Crowcroft, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Eric Knight, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Blackspotted puffer, Starry toadfish, blackspotted puffer, Star Blaasop, Staring Blow Fish, Star Puffer, starry blowfish, Starry Pufferfish, Starry Puffer, Stellate puffer, starry toadfish, Stellate Puffer

Names in 2 more languages

French: Ballon Constellé, Ballon étoilé, Baudruche Zébrée, Poisson-ballon étoilé, Tétrodon étoilé
Japanese: Moyofugu, モヨウフグ

Other scientific names: Arothron aerostaticus, Arothron alboreticulatus, Chelonodon stellaris, Diodon asper, Kanduka michiei, Takifugu stellatus, Tetraodon aerostaticus, Tetraodon aerostatious, Tetraodon alboreticulatus, Tetraodon calamara, Tetraodon punctatus, Tetraodon stellatus, Tetrodon aerostaticus, Tetrodon punctatus, Tetrodon stellatus

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).
955 open-data records from 1798 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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