When you feel like puffing up...

Did you know that puffing up is bad for the puffer fish?

Well, I didn't know that too... so we should all think twice before puffing up in anger! Haha...

We are all aware that fish from the Tetraodontidae family, including the puffer fish, porcupine fish, burrfish and blowfish, all inflate themselves with water when they are provoked. Apparently, this inflation up to 2 or 3 times its normal size is very stressful for the fish, and it is even more dangerous (to the fish itself, not us) if it inflates with air when taken out of the water.

I only found out about this when I came across this puffer fish forum, many actually keep them as pets. I must say that some of them do look very appealing with their big expressive eyes!

I'm sure many anglers have retrieved their line to find a puffed up puffer at the end of it, so have we as shown in this Jan 07 photo. We released it of course, but some keep the fish for eating, as we have witnessed during one of our kelong trips! (We have a photo of the skinned puffer, but shall not upload it as I feel it's a little revolting...)

Now, many fish of the puffer family is highly toxic. This potentially fatal tetrodotoxin is present in the fish's skin, intestines, ovaries and liver, with trace amounts in the blood and muscle. Thus, Japanese chefs have to be specially trained and licensed before they can serve fugu.

I wonder what happened to the three anglers we met at the kelong... after they ate the puffer...