Valentinni's sharpnose puffer

About this species

Valentin's sharpnose puffer, also known as the saddled puffer or black saddled toby, is a demersal marine fish belonging to the family Tetraodontidae. The saddled puffer is a small sized fish which grows up to 11 cm. It is widely distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indian Ocean, Red Sea included, and until the oceanic islands of the Pacific Ocean. It inhabits rocky and coral reefs, lagoons and external reef until 55 m. Canthigaster valentini has a diurnal activity.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Valentin's sharpnose puffer”, 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: 361 records
February: 304 records
March: 369 records
April: 406 records
May: 379 records
June: 370 records
July: 482 records
August: 427 records
September: 446 records
October: 507 records
November: 404 records
December: 348 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 3–24 m · Deepest record: 747 m

0–10 m: 493 records
10–20 m: 204 records
20–30 m: 75 records
30–40 m: 20 records
40–50 m: 6 records
50–60 m: 2 records
60–70 m: 4 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 6 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 22–29 °C

20–22 °C: 4 records
22–24 °C: 9 records
24–26 °C: 43 records
26–28 °C: 109 records
28–30 °C: 65 records

Photos

(c) Piotr Lukasik, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Daniel Benák, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Dominik Maximilián Ramík, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Pauline Walsh Jacobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Valentinni's sharpnose puffer, Banded Toby, Black-saddled Toby, Black Saddled Toby, Black-saddled Toby, Valentin's sharpnose puffer, Model Toby, Saddleback Pufferfish, Saddled Pufferfish, saddled toby, Sharpnose Puffer Fish, Valentini's Sharpnose Puffer

Names in 2 more languages

French: Bourse, Bourse à Selles, Canthigaster à Selle, Canthigaster à selles noires
Japanese: Shimakinchakufugu, シマキンチャクフグ

Other scientific names: Canthigaster valentinii, Cathigaster valentini, Tetraodon gronovii, Tetraodon valentini, Tetrodon taeniatus

Similar species

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).
2,896 open-data records from 1853 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.