Juvenile Green Spotted Puffers, Dichotomyctere (Tetraodon) nigroviridis.
Photos © Sean Evans
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| Common name: | Green Spotted Puffer, Spotted puffer / pufferfish |
| Scientific name: | Dichotomyctere nigroviridis |
| Synonyms: | Tetraodon nigroviridis |
| Size: | 6" (15cm), often smaller in aquaria. |
| Origin: | Asia: India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand. |
| Tank setup: | A brackish tank, with rocks, bogwood or robust/plastic plants for cover. |
| Compatibility: | Not overly aggressive, but may still show some aggression towards their own kind,
other puffers, or other fish - especially as they approach adult size. Keep in a species tank or with larger brackish fish, such as monos and archerfish. |
| Temperature: | 24-28oC (75-82oF) |
| Water chemistry: | Brackish, hard and alkaline. Brackish conditions for adults should be from around 1.010 sg up to full marine conditions. |
| Feeding: | Carnivorous: live and frozen foods including snails, mussel, cockle and shrimp/prawn, earthworms, bloodworm for juveniles. |
| Sexing: | No obvious differences. |
| Breeding: | Spawning occurs in brackish water. The eggs are laid on the substrate, and guarded by the male. |
| Comments: |
One of the more commonly encountered brackish puffers, it is often confused with D. fluviatilis (Green puffer) -
or even with with Tetraodon schoutedeni (Leopard/Spotted Congo puffer) - a freshwater species.
This species is often sold in freshwater when young, and can be maintained successfully in this way for a short time in hard alkaline water,
but should be adapted to brackish water as it grows, for its long term health.
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