Starry Puffer
Arothron stellatus
The Starry Puffer is a large tropical marine pufferfish with a pale body covered in dark spots and a small mouth fused into a beak. It inhabits lagoons, reef flats, and seaward reefs across the Indo-Pacific; all tissues are highly toxic and it is not a target food fish.
Identification points
- Large, rounded puffer with a pale gray to yellowish body covered in dense black star-like spots
- Small eye set high on the head with a blunt snout and fused beak-like teeth
- Body can inflate into a near-spherical shape when alarmed
Habitat
Warm coastal saltwater: lagoons, mangrove-lined channels, seagrass beds, reef flats, and outer reef slopes, usually over sand or rubble in shallow to mid-depth water.
Bait notes
Rarely targeted as a game fish. If caught incidentally, small pieces of squid, shrimp, clam, or crab bait may take it, along with small bottom rigs; avoid handling the baited fish with bare hands.
Behavior
Slow-moving and deliberate, often foraging near the bottom on hard-shelled prey such as mollusks, crustaceans, and echinoderms; can inflate defensively when threatened.
Caution
Highly poisonous; like other puffers, its organs and sometimes skin contain tetrodotoxin. Do not eat it, and avoid punctures from the beak or spines during handling.
Fishing notes
Best encountered on light bottom tackle while fishing reefs or flats; use small hooks and careful release techniques, as puffers can bite through light leaders and inflate when landed.