Red Sea Sharpnose Puffer

The Red Sea Sharpnose Puffer, a Canthigaster or toby puffer, is a small, boldly patterned pufferfish covered in pearly blue spots over a brown-olive body, with radiating blue lines around the eyes. Endemic to the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, it inhabits coral-rich reef slopes and lagoons, foraging over hard substrate. Curious and intelligent, it is only semi-aggressive but will nip slow tankmates and is not reef-safe, sampling corals, tubeworms, and ornamental invertebrates. Keep it in stable, mature saltwater at 24-27 C, specific gravity around 1.024-1.026, with reef-standard pH and alkalinity. Offer a varied meaty diet including hard-shelled foods such as snails, small crustaceans, and clams to wear down its continuously growing beak. A single specimen suits most tanks; house with robust, non-timid fish and avoid delicate invertebrates.