Starry toado
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 Drawing by Dr Tony Ayling
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| Arothron firmamentum (Temminck & Schlegel, 1850) |
The starry toado, Arothron firmamentum, is a pufferfish of the family Tetraodontidae, found in subtropical oceans worldwide, at depths between 10 and 360 m. Its length is up to 40 cm.
The starry toado has the typical rounded smooth shape of the pufferfishes, with small rounded fins. The single dorsal and anal fins are mirror images of each other and are set well back towards the caudal fin. The body is covered with small prickles giving the skin a sandpaper-like texture. The tiny mouth has fused teeth. Most parts of the fish contains poison and should not be eaten.
They feed on a variety of crustaceans, molluscs, and echinoderms.
Colouration is dark purple-brown on the back becoming white on the belly, with a regular pattern of close-set bright blue oval spots that become larger on the belly. The pectoral fins are orange and the lips and other fins are red.
[edit] References
- "Arothron firmamentum". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. May 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
- Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand, (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) ISBN 0-00-216987-8
