Editing Porcupinefish

{{Short description|Family of fishes}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Porcupinefish
| fossil_range = {{Fossil range|50|0|[[Early Eocene]] to present}}
| image = Pindsvinefisk Diodon holocanthus.jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Diodon holocanthus]]''
| taxon = Diodontidae
| authority = [[Charles Lucien Bonaparte|Bonaparte]], 1838
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision_ref = <ref name="Matsuura2014">{{cite journal |last1=Matsuura |first1=Keiichi |date=January 2015 |title=Taxonomy and systematics of tetraodontiform fishes: a review focusing primarily on progress in the period from 1980 to 2014 |journal=Ichthyological Research |volume=62 |issue=1 |pages= 72–113 |doi=10.1007/s10228-014-0444-5 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2015IchtR..62...72M }}</ref>
| subdivision = ''[[Allomycterus]]''<br />
''[[Chilomycterus]]''<br />
''[[Cyclichthys]]''<br />
''[[Diodon]]''<br />
''[[Dicotylichthys]]''<br />
''[[Lophodiodon]]''<br />
''[[Tragulichthys]]''
}}

'''Porcupinefish''' are medium-to-large [[fish]] belonging to the family '''Diodontidae''' from the order [[Tetraodontiformes]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Diodontidae/classification/ |title=Diodontidae: Classification |date=2023 |last1=Myers |first1=P.|last2=Espinosa |first2=R. |last3=Parr |first3=C. S. |last4=Jones |first4=T. |last5=Hammond |first5=G. S. |last6=Dewey |first6=T. A. |website=Animal Diversity Web |publisher=[[University of Michigan]] Museum of Zoology |access-date=1 April 2023 }}</ref> which are also commonly called '''blowfish''' and, sometimes, '''balloonfish''' and '''globefish'''. The family includes about 18 species. They are sometimes collectively called '''pufferfish''',<ref name=AF>{{cite book|editor=Cooke, J.|author=Mills, D.|year=1993|title=Aquarium Fish|publisher=Dorling Kindersley|location=San Diego|pages=[https://archive.org/details/aquariumfish00mill_0/page/281 281]|isbn=1-56458-293-0|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/aquariumfish00mill_0/page/281}}</ref> 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.<ref name="AM">{{cite web |url=https://australian.museum/learn/animals/fishes/diodontidae-porcupinefishes/ |title=Diodontidae - Porcupinefishes |date=18 June 2022<!-- fr pg source -->|website=Animal factsheets |publisher=[[Australian Museum]] |access-date=1 April 2023 }}</ref><ref name=EoF>{{cite book |last1=Matsuura |first1=K. |last2=Tyler |first2=J.C. |editor-last1=Paxton |editor-first1=J.R. |editor-last2=Eschmeyer |editor-first2=W.N. |year=1998 |title=Encyclopedia of Fishes |location=San Diego, California, USA |publisher= Academic Press |pages= 231 |isbn= 0-12-547665-5}}</ref>

== Taxonomy ==

=== Extant genera ===
The following genera are known:

* ''[[Allomycterus]]'' <small>[[Allan Riverstone McCulloch|McCulloch]], 1921</small>
* ''[[Chilomycterus]]'' <small>[[Charles N. F. Brisout|Brisout de Barneville]], 1846</small>
* ''[[Cyclichthys]]'' <small>[[Johann Jakob Kaup|Kaup]], 1855</small>
* ''[[Diodon]]'' <small>[[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758</small>
* ''[[Dicotylichthys]]'' <small>[[Johann Jakob Kaup|Kaup]], 1855</small>
* ''[[Lophodiodon]]'' <small>[[Alec Frederick Fraser-Brunner|Fraser-Brunner]], 1943</small>
* ''[[Tragulichthys]]'' <small>[[Gilbert Percy Whitley|Whitley]], 1931</small>

=== Fossil genera ===
[[File:Prodiodon erinaceus.JPG|thumb|''[[Prodiodon]]'', an [[Eocene]]-aged fossil porcupinefish from Italy]]
The following genera are known only from fossil remains:<ref>{{Cite web |title=PBDB Taxon |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicTaxonInfo?taxon_no=83301 |access-date=2025-01-01 |website=paleobiodb.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cantalice |first1=Kleyton M. |last2=Salgado-Garrido |first2=Hugo E. |last3=Sosa-Rodríguez |first3=Erick |last4=Vilchis-Zapata |first4=Kay |last5=González-Barba |first5=Gerardo |last6=Project |first6=on behalf of the Underwater Archaeological Atlas |date=2025-02-06 |title=Underwater paleontology inside cenotes reveals the Miocene-Pliocene fish diversity in the Yucatan Peninsula, southeast Mexico |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=e0315382 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0315382 |doi-access=free |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=11801553 |pmid=39913453}}</ref>

* †''[[Eodiodon]]'' <small>Casier, 1952</small> (Late Eocene of Belgium)
* †''[[Heptadiodon]]'' <small>Bronn, 1855</small> (Early Eocene of Italy)
* †''[[Oligodiodon]]'' <small>[[Henri Émile Sauvage|Sauvage]]</small><small>, 1873</small> (Miocene of Austria & Italy)
* †''[[Prodiodon]]'' <small>Ladanois, 1955</small> (Early Eocene of Italy)
* †''[[Progymnodon]]'' <small>Dames, 1883</small> (mid-late Eocene of the United States and Romania)
* †''[[Pshekhadiodon]]'' <small>Bannikov & Tyler, 1997</small> (Middle Eocene of the North Caucasus, Russia)<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tyler |first1=J. C. |last2=Bannikov |first2=A. F. |date=2009-11-01 |title=Phylogenetic implications of the some cranial features of the porcupine pufferfish Pshekhadiodon (Tetraodontiformes, Diodontidae) from the Eocene of the Northern Caucasus |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1134/S003294520909001X |journal=Journal of Ichthyology |language=en |volume=49 |issue=9 |pages=703–709 |doi=10.1134/S003294520909001X |bibcode=2009JIch...49..703T |issn=1555-6425}}</ref>
* †''[[Zignodon]]'' <small>Tyler & Santini, 2002</small> (Early Eocene of Italy)

== Characteristics ==
Porcupinefish are generally slow-moving.<ref name=EoF/>

They have the ability to inflate their bodies by swallowing water or air, thereby becoming rounder. This increase in size (almost double vertically) reduces the range of potential predators to those with much larger mouths. A second defense mechanism is provided by the sharp spines, which radiate outwards when the fish is inflated.

They have upper and lower teeth that fuse into a shape of a parrot's beak; they use this beak to eat [[molluscs]] and [[sea urchins]].<ref name="AM"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Dudley |first1=Gordon |last2=Sumich |first2=James |last3=Cass-Dudley |first3=Virginia L. |date=2011 |title=Laboratory and Field Investigations in Marine Life |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MgqFV_YQNXUC&pg=PA159 |publisher=Jones & Bartlett Publishers |location=Sudbury, Massachusetts, USA |isbn=978-1-4496-0501-8 |page=159 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ponder |first1=Winston Frank |last2=Lindberg |first2=David R. |last3=Ponder |first3=Juliet Mary |date=2019 |title=Biology and Evolution of the Mollusca |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UjL3DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA523 |publisher=CRC Press |location=Boca Raton, Florida, USA |isbn=978-1-351-11565-0 }}</ref>

Some species are poisonous, having [[tetrodotoxin]] in their internal organs, such as the ovaries and liver. This [[neurotoxin]] is at least 1,200 times more potent than [[cyanide]]. The poison is produced by several types of bacteria obtained from the fish's diet.<ref>[[Ross Piper|Piper, R.]] (2007), ''Extraordinary Animals: An Encyclopedia of Curious and Unusual Animals'', [[Greenwood Press (publisher)|Greenwood Press]].</ref> As a result of these three defenses, porcupinefish have few predators, though adults are sometimes preyed upon by [[sharks]] and [[orca]]s. Juveniles are also preyed on by ''[[Lysiosquillina maculata]]'', [[tuna]], and [[dolphin]]s.<ref name=EoF/>

== Relationship with humans ==
=== Consumption ===
Porcupinefish are eaten as [[food fish]] and are an exotic delicacy in [[Cebu]], Philippines, where they are called ''tagotongan''. However, pufferfish can be dangerous to consume since they can cause [[tetrodotoxin]] poisoning.

==In popular culture==
The porcupine fish (as ''Diodon antennatus'') is mentioned in [[Charles Darwin]]'s famous account of his trip around the world, ''[[The Voyage of the Beagle]]''. He noted how the fish can swim quite well when inflated, though the altered buoyancy requires them to do so upside down. Darwin also mentioned hearing a fellow naturalist, Dr. Allen of [[Forres]], had "frequently found a ''Diodon'', floating alive and distended, in the stomach of the shark; and that on several occasions he has known it eat its way, not only through the coats of the stomach, but through the sides of the monster".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Darwin |first1=Charles |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yURHAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA14 |title=Journal of Researches Into the Natural History and Geology of the Countries Visited During the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle Round the World: Under the Command of Capt. Fitz Roy |date=1845 |publisher=J. Murray |page=14}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Pufferfish (Butete).jpg|A porcupinefish in an aquarium
File:Porcupine fish.jpg|A dead porcupinefish with clearly visible spines on the shore
File:Preserved porcupine fish at a lab.jpg|Preserved porcupine fish in a laboratory
File:Porcupinefish1.jpg|A dead porcupinefish washed up on a beach
File:Porcupinefish2.jpg|A dead porcupinefish
File:Diodon nicthemerus - southern globefish - tokyosealifepark - 2019-1-8.webm|(video) [[Slender-spined porcupine fish|Diodon nicthemerus]] swimming
</gallery>

== See also ==
*[[List of fish families]]
*[[List of marine aquarium fish species]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{Commons category-inline|Diodontidae|''Diodontidae''}}
*{{Wikispecies-inline|Diodontidae|''Diodontidae''}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q329334}}

[[Category:Diodontidae]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Charles Lucien Bonaparte]]