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Bennett's Puffer
Canthigaster bennetti (Bleeker, 1854)
Above and below: A Bennett's Puffer at Marley Point, Royal National Park, New South Wales, July 2001. View larger image.
Bennett's Puffer has a small mouth and a long, conical snout. It has a moderately compressed body with short-based dorsal and anal fins.
The colouration of this species is variable depending upon the surrounding habitat. In weedy areas the fish sometimes has a greenish tint. It often has blue lines radiating from the eye, a pale belly with blue and orange spots, a dark, blue-margined region under the base of the dorsal fin and a ill-defined dark stripe laterally.
Bennett's Puffer grows to 90mm in length.
It can live in a range of habitats from shallow seagrass beds to deeper rocky reefs.
This species is recorded from tropical marine waters throughout the Indo-West Pacific. In Australia it is know from off north-western Western Australia and from northern Queensland to the central coast of New South Wales.
View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.
Further reading
- Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 292.
- Hutchins, B. & R. Swainston. 1986. Sea Fishes of Southern Australia. Complete Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Swainston Publishing. Pp. 180.
- Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 433.
- Kuiter, R.H. 2000. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Gary Allen. Pp. 437.
- Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 557.
