What Do Pufferfish Eat? Everything You Need to Know

Primarily found in tropical marine coastal waters and comprising over 120–200 species in the families Tetraodontidae and Diodontidae, pufferfish are known for inflating into a ball using water or air to escape predators. They have stout bodies that range in size from under an inch to up to about 2 feet long, though most are much smaller. They have spines instead of scales and four fused teeth. Pufferfish are primarily carnivores, though some are omnivores. They use their strong, beak-like teeth to crush hard-shelled prey. Continue reading to learn everything you need to know about what pufferfish eat.

What Foods Do Pufferfish Eat?

Pufferfish are predominantly carnivores that consume varied diets, though many behave as opportunistic omnivores by grazing on algae alongside their main prey. They primarily eat invertebrates like shellfish, mollusks, and crustaceans, using a specialized, ever-growing beak to crush hard shells.

Foods that pufferfish are likely to eat include:

• Coral
• Sea sponges
• Algae
• Flatworms
• Shrimp
• Crabs
• Mussels
• Oysters
• Crawfish
• Snails
• Lancetfish
• Bloodworms
• Krill

Access to these foods can be limited by location, but pufferfish will rarely pass up an available meal. While pufferfish in captivity may eat a wide variety of foods, wild pufferfish typically have more specialized diets based on their natural habitat and available prey

In the wild, a pufferfish’s diet is important not just for nutrition, but also because Pufferfish accumulate tetrodotoxin from bacteria present in some of the foods they eat, making them deadly to most other living creatures. Therefore, a wild pufferfish’s diet is crucial to its ability to produce toxins and remain protected from predators. Pufferfish bred and raised in captivity with a controlled diet that lacks toxin-producing bacteria do not accumulate tetrodotoxin.

How Do Pufferfish Hunt?

Pufferfish generally fall into three foraging categories: ambush predators, stealth predators, and open-water hunters that actively swim to search for prey. Pufferfish are effective hunters. Although they are not strong swimmers, they can manifest quick bursts of speed to help them catch prey.

When they are going after prey, pufferfish will either use stealth to swim near a fish and strike, or they will lie in wait somewhere they can set up an ambush.

Pufferfish have four teeth fused into a powerful, beak-like structure that continuously grows throughout their lives. This specialized beak acts like armor-piercing shears, allowing them to crush hard-shelled prey like mollusks, crabs, and corals. To prevent overgrowth, pufferfish must constantly wear down their teeth by eating hard, crunchy foods.

What Predators Hunt Pufferfish?

Although a pufferfish has powerful toxins in its skin and organs (and in the spines of some species), that does not deter every predator. The slow swimming exhibited by pufferfish and their willingness to swim in the open makes them easy targets.

Some of the most common predators of pufferfish are:

• Tiger sharks
• Sea snakes
• Humans

Several types of sharks and sea snakes are practically immune to the effects of tetrodotoxin. Sharks can eat the pufferfish without fear of dying in most cases. Dolphins have been observed interacting with pufferfish, possibly to experience a trance-like state induced by the fish’s toxins.

Humans are a primary predator of pufferfish, viewing them as a culinary delicacy despite the extreme risks involved in their consumption. In Japan and Korea, pufferfish is known as fugu and is highly prized. Because the toxin is deadly to humans, only specially trained and government-licensed chefs are allowed to prepare fugu.