Madeira Canary Islands Azores – Fishes Dr. Peter Wirtz

Brown puffer (Sphoeroides marmoratus)
Up to 25 cm long. Madeira, Canary Islands, Azores. 2 – 60 m depth.
Pufferfish are protected from most predators not only by their ability to inflate themselves (insert) but also by
containing a strong poison, Tetrodotoxin. It is concentrated in the inner organs, mainly the liver. The presence
of this poison may be one of the reasons why pufferfish are comparatively fearless and even approach divers.
Like the Sharpnose puffer, the Brown puffer has a very similar „sister species“ in the Western Atlantic,
Sphoeroides spengleri. Photos Peter Wirtz.
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Purcupine fishes (Diodontidae)
Spotted burrfish (Chilomycterus reticulatus)
Up to 60 cm long. Madeira, Canary Islands, Azores. 5 – 60 m depth.
All puffer fishes and porcupine fishes can inflate themselves to a ball-shape by rapidly swallowing water. The
spotted burrfish has very short spines. It is a tropical species that is not rare at the Canary Islands but has been
seen only a few times at Madeira and at the Azores (more records of this species from there are needed). An
inoffensive, slowly swimming species. Photo Peter Wirtz.
Sunfishes (Molidae)
Ocean sunfish (Mola mola)
Up to 3,3 m long. Madeira, Canary Islands, Azores. 0 – 400 m depth.