Birdbeak burrfish

Cyclichthys orbicularis

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth22–125 m
Water temperature18–29 °C
Best monthsJanuary, March, and April
How commonOccasional

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

About this species

Cyclichthys orbicularis, known commonly as the birdbeak burrfish among other vernacular names, is a species of marine fish in the family Diodontidae.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Cyclichthys orbicularis”, 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: 83 records
February: 72 records
March: 98 records
April: 117 records
May: 74 records
June: 60 records
July: 69 records
August: 82 records
September: 54 records
October: 80 records
November: 73 records
December: 71 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 22–125 m · Deepest record: 407.5 m

0–10 m: 4 records
10–20 m: 5 records
20–30 m: 20 records
30–40 m: 10 records
40–50 m: 6 records
50–60 m: 7 records
60–70 m: 4 records
70–80 m: 15 records
80–90 m: 16 records
90–100 m: 6 records
100–110 m: 9 records
110+ m: 19 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 18–29 °C

16–18 °C: 3 records
18–20 °C: 6 records
20–22 °C: 7 records
22–24 °C: 10 records
24–26 °C: 7 records
26–28 °C: 80 records
28–30 °C: 45 records

Photos

(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Ewout Knoester · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) biogeek, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Gregor Bailar, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ditch Townsend, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) 呂一起(Lyu yi-chi), some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Peter Southwood, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Birdbeak burrfish, Ballonfish, birdbeak burrfish, Fixed Spine Porcupinefish, Orbicular Burrfish, round burrfish, Rounded Porcupine-fish, Rounded Porcupinefish, Short-spined Porcupine-fish, Short-spined Porcupinefish, Shortspine Porcupinefish

Names in 7 more languages

German: Kurzstachel-Igelfisch
Spanish: Puercoespin Pajarito
Filipino: Botiting laot, Buktit, Butete, Buteteng laot
French: Poisson porc-épic orbiculaire, Porc-épic bécard, Porc-épine Bécard
Japanese: Meitaishigakifugu, メイタイシガキフグ
Thai: ปลาปักเป้าหนามทุเรียนหนามสั้น
Simplified Chinese: 刺規, 圓點圓刺魨, 氣瓜仔, 短棘圓刺魨

Other scientific names: Atinga orbicularis, Chilomycterus orbicularis, Chilomycterus parcomaculatus, Diodon caeruleus, Diodon orbicularis

Similar species

Balloonfish
Diodon holocanthus
Porcupinefish
Diodon hystrix
Black-blotched porcupinefish
Diodon liturosus

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).
413 open-data records from 1785 to 2019.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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