Balloon-fish

About this species

Dicotylichthys punctulatus, also known as the three-bar porcupinefish, is a species of porcupinefish endemic to the east coast of Australia, where it is found in coastal and offshore reef environments down to 50 m (160 ft) deep. This species grows to 40 cm (16 in) in standard length, although most only reach 18 cm (7.1 in). This species is the only known member of the genus Dicotylichthys.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Dicotylichthys”, 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: 235 records
February: 179 records
March: 190 records
April: 178 records
May: 153 records
June: 173 records
July: 114 records
August: 194 records
September: 199 records
October: 177 records
November: 187 records
December: 225 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 15–60 m · Deepest record: 139 m

0–10 m: 3 records
10–20 m: 138 records
20–30 m: 57 records
30–40 m: 66 records
40–50 m: 14 records
50–60 m: 51 records
60–70 m: 18 records
70–80 m: 13 records
80–90 m: 3 records
90–100 m: 2 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 2 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 16–24 °C

14–16 °C: 3 records
16–18 °C: 3 records
18–20 °C: 38 records
20–22 °C: 194 records
22–24 °C: 23 records

Photos

(c) libby hepburn, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ben Jobson, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Laura Fernández Winzer, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Thomas Mesaglio, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Thomas Mesaglio, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Kai Squires, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Tim, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Balloon-fish, Balloonfish, Burr-fish, Burrfish, Myer's Porcupine-fish, Myer's Porcupinefish, Spotted Porcupine Fish, threebar porcupinefish, Three-bar Porcupine-fish, Three-bar Porcupinefish, Three-barred Porcupinefish, Threebarred Porcupinefish

Names in 2 more languages

German: Dreistreifen-Igelfisch
Simplified Chinese: 双叶鲀

Similar species

Balloonfish
Diodon holocanthus
Porcupinefish
Diodon hystrix
Globefish
Diodon nicthemerus
Australian Burrfish
Allomycterus pilatus
Spotfin burrfish
Chilomycterus reticulatus
Birdbeak burrfish
Cyclichthys orbicularis

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).
868 open-data records from 1898 to 2006.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.