NEWS 115
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Puffers: deadly poisonous and super cool
Puffers have sharp teeth. Four of them, two upper and two lower.
Together they look rather like the beak of a parrot. And just as a
parrot can crack nuts with its tough beak, a puffer can crack snails.
Snails and mussels are its favorite foods! But a puffer will also eat
other foods, for example earthworms, mosquito larvae, shrimps, and
cuttlefishes.
If a puffer doesn't get enough snails then it may happen that its teeth
become too long. Then the teeth have to be trimmed and ground
down. If this becomes necessary it is best done by a vet.
If a puffer becomes scared then it can inflate itself. It does this by swallowing lots of
water. In this way it can become twice or three times as large as it really is. If you catch a
puffer and take it out of the water then it will inflate itself with air. This is very dangerous
for the puffer as sometimes it isn't able to get rid of the air again later. And then it will die!
For this reason youmust never catch a puffer just for the fun of seeing it inflate itself,
right? That would be rather cruel.
There are lots of different species of puffers. Some grow to only 2 cm long, others to
more than ameter. Some require salt in the water, others not. So you need to buy a good
book so that you knowwhat you are doing before you buy a puffer.
Gnashers
The Gold-Ringed Puffer (Tetraodon
mbu) from the Congo grows very
large, almost 60 cm!
Puffers can inflate themselves
Any creature that eats a puffer will die, as the flesh of puffers contains a deadly poison. This is also the reason
why puffers are so bold: they have hardly any enemies! As long as you don't eat it, however, the poison is
harmless.
The teeth of puffers are a lot less pleasant. Some are so greedy that they will bite at anything! If this happens
to be your hand or finger then it will bleed quite a lot and hurt as well. So you must always make sure you
know where your puffer is when you are working in the aquarium. If your puffer is very bold then you must
trap it in a net until you have finished in the aquarium.
Deadly poisonous!
If you are looking for a fish with personality, then a puffer will be
just the ticket for you. Puffers are intelligent, inquisitive, and
bold. Unfortunately they are also rather mean. For this reason
the majority of species are very difficult or impossible to keep
with other fishes.
But on the other hand you can even train a larger puffer to
perform tricks! It will learn to come to the front at the sound of a
whistle and take food from forceps.
