They may be extremely cute looking but pufferfish are the second most poisonous vertebrate in the world, after the golden poison frog. Certain internal organs, such as liver and eyes, and sometimes the skin, contain tetrodotoxin, a substance that makes them foul tasting and often lethal to fish.
To humans, tetrodotoxin is deadly, up to 1,200 times more poisonous than cyanide. There is enough toxin in one pufferfish to kill 30 adult humans, and there is no known antidote.
Amazingly, the meat of some pufferfish is considered a delicacy in Japan and is called fugu. It is extremely expensive and only prepared by trained, licensed chefs who know that one bad cut means almost certain death for a customer. Despite this, many such deaths occur annually! Have a look at the video below about how carefully it is prepared and how its eaten.
Pufferfish are poor swimmers and are very vulnerable to predators. Instead of trying to escape, pufferfish will ingest huge amounts of water (and even air when necessary) into their highly elastic stomachs, quickly turning themselves into a virtually inedible ball several times their normal size!
All puffers have pointed spines, so even if they are not visible when the puffer is not inflated a hungry predator may suddenly find itself with a mouth full of a pointy ball rather than a slow, tasty fish. The video below shows how the natural defense works when a puffer is caught by a moray eel.
There are more than 120 species of pufferfish worldwide. Most are found in tropical and subtropical ocean waters. They have long, tapered bodies with bulbous heads. Some wear wild markings and colors to advertise their toxicity, while others have more muted or cryptic coloring to blend in with their environment.
They range in size from the 1-inch-long (2.5-centimeter-long) dwarf or pygmy puffer to the freshwater giant puffer, which can grow to more than 2 feet (61 centimeters) in length. They are scaleless fish and usually have rough to spiky skin. All have four teeth that are fused together into a beak-like form.
The diet of the pufferfish includes mostly invertebrates and algae. Large specimens will even crack open and eat clams, mussels, and shellfish with their hard beaks. Poisonous puffers are believed to synthesize their deadly toxin from the bacteria in the animals they eat.
Some species of pufferfish are considered vulnerable due to pollution, habitat loss, and overfishing, but most populations are considered stable.
Wanasayansi wanasema kuwa samaki aina ya pufferfish ni mnyama wa pili mwenye sumu zaidi duniani baada ya chura wa dhahabu. Vipengele fulani vya ndani, kama vile ini, macho, na nyakati nyingine ngozi, vina tetrodotoxin, dutu inayofanya viwe na ladha mbaya na mara nyingi viwe hatari kwa samaki. Tetrodotoxin ni sumu ya sumu ya sumu ya sumu ya sumu ya tetrodotoxin, ambayo ni sumu ya sumu ya sumu ya tetrodotoxin, ambayo ni sumu ya sumu ya tetrodotoxin, ambayo ni sumu ya sumu ya tetrodotoxin. Kuna sumu ya kutosha katika samaki mmoja wa puffer kuua watu 30 wazima, na hakuna dawa inayojulikana. Kwa kushangaza, nyama ya samaki fulani huonwa kuwa chakula kitamu nchini Japani na huitwa fugu. Ni ghali sana na huandaliwa tu na wapishi waliozoezwa na wenye leseni ambao wanajua kwamba kukata moja mbaya kunamaanisha karibu kifo hakika kwa mteja. Licha ya hayo, vifo vingi kama hivyo hutukia kila mwaka! Tazama video hapa chini kuhusu jinsi inavyoandaliwa na jinsi inavyochukuliwa. Samaki aina ya pufferfish hawawezi kuogelea vizuri na wanaweza kuathiriwa sana na wanyama wanaowinda. Badala ya kujaribu kutoroka, samaki huyo huingiza kiasi kikubwa cha maji (na hata hewa inapohitajika) ndani ya tumbo lake lenye nguvu sana, na haraka kujifanya kuwa mpira usioweza kuliwa ambao ni mkubwa mara kadhaa kuliko ukubwa wake wa kawaida! "Kila aina ya samaki ina miiba yenye ncha, kwa hiyo hata ikiwa haionekani wakati samaki huyo hajainuliwa, mwindaji mwenye njaa anaweza kujikuta ghafula akiwa na mdomo uliojaa ""mchanga wenye ncha"" badala ya samaki mwenye ladha nzuri." Video iliyo hapa chini inaonyesha jinsi ulinzi wa asili unavyofanya kazi wakati mwindaji anapokamatwa na mwindaji. Kuna aina zaidi ya 120 za samaki aina ya puffer duniani kote. Wengi wao hupatikana katika maji ya bahari ya kitropiki na ya kitropiki. Wana miili mirefu yenye umbo la mviringo na vichwa vyenye umbo la mviringo. Baadhi yao huvaa alama na rangi za kuchanganya ili kutangaza sumu yao, huku wengine wakiwa na rangi nyembamba au zisizoeleweka ili kufanana na mazingira yao. Kwa mfano, kuna aina ya kipepeo anayeitwa dwarf puffer mwenye urefu wa sentimeta 2.5 na aina ya kipepeo anayeitwa giant puffer mwenye urefu wa sentimeta 61 na urefu wa sentimeta 1. Wao ni samaki wasio na magamba na kwa kawaida huwa na ngozi ngumu au yenye miiba. Zote zina meno manne yaliyounganishwa pamoja na kuwa na umbo kama la mdomo. Mlo wa samaki huyo hutia ndani hasa wanyama wasio na uti wa mgongo na mwani. Wanyama wakubwa hata hufunguka na kula makombe, samaki aina ya mussels, na samaki aina ya shellfish kwa mdomo wao mgumu. Inaaminika kwamba vipepeo wenye sumu hutengeneza sumu yao yenye kuua kutokana na bakteria zilizo katika wanyama wanaokula. Spishi fulani za samaki aina ya pufferfish huonwa kuwa hatari kwa sababu ya uchafuzi wa mazingira, kupotea kwa makao yao, na uvuvi kupita kiasi, lakini idadi kubwa ya samaki hao huonwa kuwa thabiti.