The tetraodon family of Puffer fish is a BIG one! There are over 120 species of fish in this family of puffer fish alone! The three that we will focus on today is the puffer fish that we have already met, the Tetraodon lineatus, and a few of his family, the Tetraodon schoutedeni and the Dichotomyctere nigroviridis. One of the main characterisitcs fro this family of animals is their ability to puff up! Like we touched on in a previous post, the action of puffing is used as a defense mechanism against predators. The reasoning behind this is to make it harder for predators to get them in their mouth. They also have spikes and poison that emanates from their bodies in order to deter predators. The Tetraodon schoutedeni, also known as the spotted congo puffer, is another genus in the Tetraodon family primarily found in the African congo basin (4). This puffer is primarily found in freshwater climates such as that found in the congo river. The Dichotomyctere nigroviridis, also known as the green spotted puffer, is found in fresh and brackish water throughout southeast Asia. 

Here is a phylogenetic tree of Puffer Fish!