Porcupinefish

Porcupinefish
Temporal range:
Diodon holocanthus
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Tetraodontiformes
Suborder: Tetraodontoidei
Family: Diodontidae
Bonaparte, 1838
Genera

Allomycterus
Chilomycterus
Cyclichthys
Diodon
Dicotylichthys
Lophodiodon
Tragulichthys

Porcupinefish are medium-to-large fish belonging to the family Diodontidae from the order Tetraodontiformes which are also commonly called blowfish and, sometimes, balloonfish and globefish. The family includes about 18 species. They are sometimes collectively called pufferfish, not to be confused with the morphologically similar and closely related Tetraodontidae, which are more commonly given this name.

They are found in shallow, temperate, and tropical seas worldwide. A few species are found much further out from shore, wherein large schools of thousands of individuals can occur.