Striped Puffer

Arothron manilensis

Tetraodontidae · saltwater and brackish water fish

1 minute read · Species guide

Striped Puffer field guide illustration

About Striped Puffer

The narrow-lined pufferfish (Arothron manilensis) or striped puffer is a demersal marine fish belonging to the family Tetraodontidae. It is found in tropical waters of the central Indo-Pacific.

Habitat

It lives in estuaries, on the sheltered top reef or lagoons from the surface to 20 m depth. It is common in seagrass beds and sandy areas. Juveniles grow among mangroves.

Description

Arothron manilensis grows up to 31 cm length. Its body is oval shape, spherical and relatively elongated. The skin is not covered with scales. The fish has no pelvic fin and no lateral line. The dorsal fin and the anal fin are small, symmetric and located at the end of the body. Its snout is short with two pairs of nostrils and its mouth is terminal with four strong teeth.

The background coloration is whitish to grey with brown horizontal lines, all the fins are yellowish and semi-translucide except the caudal fin which is opaque and outlined with black. Black blotch more or less circular at the base of the pectoral fin. The iris is also yellowish

Article text: Wikipedia contributors, Narrow-lined puffer (source revision). Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Range

Where it lives

GBIF holds no US occurrence record for this species under this name. That is a gap in the record, not evidence that the fish is absent: ITIS files it as a US species.

Habitat

Water and movement

Water
WoRMS records this species in brackish water and the sea.

Classification

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Superclass
Actinopterygii
Class
Teleostei
Order
Tetraodontiformes
Genus
Arothron
Species
Arothron manilensis
ITIS TSN
553408
WoRMS AphiaID
275384
GBIF key
2407348
Outside the US
ITIS also files it in Central Pacific Territories.

Common questions about Striped Puffer

What is the scientific name of Striped Puffer?
The scientific name is Arothron manilensis, in the family Tetraodontidae. Classification follows ITIS.
Does Striped Puffer live in fresh water or salt water?
WoRMS records this species in brackish water and the sea.

Same family

More Tetraodontidae