Black-blotched porcupinefish

Diodon liturosus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth1–16 m
Water temperature19–29 °C
Best monthsJanuary, March, and October
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: (c) Michael Bakker Paiva, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The black-blotched porcupinefish, also known as shortspine porcupinefish, is a member of the family Diodontidae. It is found in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-Pacific on coral and rocky reefs and in inshore waters. Other names are the blotched porcupinefish and the brown-backed porcupinefish.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Black-blotched porcupinefish”, 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: 145 records
March: 184 records
April: 154 records
May: 140 records
June: 101 records
July: 154 records
August: 90 records
September: 133 records
October: 158 records
November: 152 records
December: 140 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 1–16 m · Deepest record: 125 m

0–10 m: 64 records
10–20 m: 12 records
20–30 m: 2 records
30–40 m: 2 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 19–29 °C

18–20 °C: 2 records
20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 1 records
24–26 °C: 10 records
26–28 °C: 45 records
28–30 °C: 57 records

Photos

(c) Jan Ebr & Ivana Ebrová, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Julien Renoult, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Paolo Co, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) John Hepburn, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Black-blotched porcupinefish, black-blotched porcupinefish, Black Blotched Porcupinefish, Blackblotched Porcupinefish, Black-blotched porcupinefish, Blotched Porcupine-fish, Blotched Porcupinefish, Brown-backed Porcupinefish, Shortspine Porcupine, Shortspine Porcupinefish

Names in 7 more languages

German: Masken-Igelfisch
Spanish: Pez Erizo Manchado
Filipino: Botiting laot, Buktit, Butete, Buteteng laot
French: Diodon à taches noires, Poisson porc-épic, Poisson porc-épic à épines courtes, Poisson porc-épic à taches auréolées
Japanese: Hitozuraharisembon, Hitozura-harisenbon, ヒトヅラハリセンボン
Thai: ปลาปักเป้าหนามทุเรียนด่างดำ
Simplified Chinese: 刺規, 大斑刺魨, 大斑刺鲀, 氣瓜仔, 紋二齒魨

Other scientific names: Diodon bleekeri, Diodon literosus, Diodon lituratus, Diodon maculatus

Similar species

Balloonfish
Diodon holocanthus
Porcupinefish
Diodon hystrix
Birdbeak burrfish
Cyclichthys orbicularis
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).
483 open-data records from 1804 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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