Target Puffer

[dixaisy930]

When I stopped by the lfs today, I saw they had target puffers. I asked the guy minimum tank size and such, and to my horror, he said "3 or 5 gallon for a couple". I KNOW this cannot be true. I have been getting conflicting info on the web about their maximum size and minimum tank requirements. But they do seem to be freshwater puffers, right? The ones in the lfs were only about an inch or two long- I've read that they reach from 3 inches to 6 inches. I've also read that minimum tank size range from 10 gallons to 75 gallons. I am looking for a puffer that could do well in a ten or twenty gallon tank. I have a feeling it might not be the target puffer, though. However, I would appreciate any info about them.

EDIT

I have been looking at pictures of various puffers, and for the most part, the pictures of the target puffers look nothing like the puffers I saw in the lfs. The puffers I saw had a grey/greenish solid color to them, and I could swear they had blue-grey eyes. That's what I liked about them so much was their blue eyes. Do they just look different because they are so young? I saw a few pictures of male red-eye puffers, and they looked exactly like the puffers I saw (but I suppose the right camera angle could make their eyes look blue?) I am extremely confused...please help. lol

 

[Pufferpunk]

check out the target puffer group at the PUFFER LIST.

 

[dixaisy930]

Thank you....that was the web-site that started all of my confusion though. lol The picture of the Carinotetraodon lorteti highly resembles the puffers I saw. It's a red-eye puffer, but the picture makes it look like it has blueish eyes.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

i've posted this before; its a taxonomical key for identifying species in the target puffer group. if you really just can't narrow it down at all, then the puffer very well might not be a target puffer species. (one quick way to tell is that most of the target puffers have a big fat spot on their body; hence the "target" label.)

From the back of Ebert's Aqualog for Puffers:

1a ) Snout relatively short (eye diameter contained maximum 1.5 times in snout length); when fish rests, usually a hump is clearly remarkable on the back ----> Go To 2
1b ) Snout is relatively long (eye diameter contained two or more times in snout length); no hump on the back ----> Go To 3

2a ) Body with a distinct ocellus (eye-spot) on the side, always larger than other spots on body; spots on body irregular in form ----> Tetraodon cochinchinensis
2b ) If present, ocellus on body not larger than other spots on body; spots on body circular, the entire body more or less uniformly spotted ----> Tetraodon turgidus
2c ) No ocellus; dorsum not spotted, but with an irregular pattern ----> Tetraodon hilgendorfii

3a ) Belly not spotted ----> Tetradon cambodgiensis
3b ) Belly spotted ----> Tetraodon leiurus

Note: The systematics of this group are complex and the subject of scientific controversy. The nomenclature suggested by Maurice Kottelat (2000) is followed here. The key provided above is intended for the identification of live specimens whose origin is unknown. However, because of the variablility within this group of puffers, inevitably the key may prove of now use in the case of some individuals.

 

[Pufferpunk]

The blue you see is just a reflection of light.