Ballonfish

About this species

Cyclichthys spilostylus, known commonly as the spotbase burrfish or yellowspotted burrfish, is a species of marine fish in the family Diodontidae.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Spotbase burrfish”, 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: 29 records
February: 14 records
March: 24 records
April: 46 records
May: 36 records
June: 32 records
July: 40 records
August: 34 records
September: 44 records
October: 50 records
November: 54 records
December: 46 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 50–151 m · Deepest record: 196 m

20–30 m: 1 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 3 records
60–70 m: 2 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 1 records
90–100 m: 3 records
100–110 m: 2 records
110–120 m: 5 records
120–130 m: 2 records
130+ m: 4 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 18–29 °C

16–18 °C: 2 records
18–20 °C: 1 records
20–22 °C: 3 records
22–24 °C: 3 records
24–26 °C: 3 records
26–28 °C: 23 records
28–30 °C: 8 records

Photos

(c) jon hanson from london, UK, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Dr. Guido Bohne, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Rui Ribeiro, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Libby Keatley, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) danpatrick, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Gergely Nigg, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Libby Keatley, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Ballonfish, Spotbase burrfish, Spot-base Burrfish, yellowspotted burrfish, Yellow-spotted burrfish

Names in 5 more languages

German: Gelbflecken-Igelfisch
Filipino: Butete
French: Poisson-hérisson à points jaunes
Japanese: Igagurifugu, イガグリフグ
Thai: ปลาปักเป้าหนามทุเรียนท้องจุด

Other scientific names: Chilomycterus spilostylus, Cyclicthys spilostylos

Similar species

Birdbeak burrfish
Cyclichthys orbicularis
Hardenberg's Burrfish
Cyclichthys hardenbergi
Balloonfish
Diodon holocanthus
Porcupinefish
Diodon hystrix
Globefish
Diodon nicthemerus
Australian Burrfish
Allomycterus pilatus

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).
132 open-data records from 1928 to 2012.
Species data updated November 1, 2026.