Tetraodon nigroviridis

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Tetraodon nigroviridis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Tetraodontiformes
Family: Tetraodontidae
Genus: Tetraodon
Species: T. nigroviridis
Binomial name
Tetraodon nigroviridis
Marion de Procé, 1822

Tetraodon nigroviridis is one of the pufferfish known as the green spotted puffer. It is found across South and Southeast Asia in coastal freshwater and brackish water habitats.[1] Tetraodon nigroviridis reaches a typical maximum length of about 15 cm (5.9 in), with reports of up to 17 cm.[2] In February 2009 it was successfully bred in captivity at University of Florida using a new variation of the ovarian lavage technique.[3][4]

In the Aquarium

This Pufferfish, known as "Midori Fugu" in Japanese is a popular aquarium pet. Typically younger fish are sold with a length of 2–3 cm. These fish can be kept with others of the same type, or other fish, but they are a rather aggressive species, so they will often nip the fins or scales of other slow moving fish. Some pet shops in Japan sell them with other fish they are known to co-habitate well with. These include Corydoras. Although they may reach 15 cm in nature, they rarely exceed 10 cm in captivity. These fish are omnivores, and tend to feed mainly on small invertebrates and plant matter (such as seaweed) in nature. In captivity, they can be fed live bait or frozen bloodworms, but they can eat manufactured fish food if they are raised on it from a young age. One issue in feeding them manufactured food is that their teeth continuously grow, and in nature eating hard invertebrates helps grind their teeth down. Without hard food, their teeth will continue to grow until it causes health problems. These problems can be solved by using fine coral sand in the tank, which the fish will chew. Also, occasional feeding of snails or ghost shrimp will wear down their teeth naturally.

In nature, this species will often travel to the limits of where salt water becomes fresh water, so they can be kept in fresh water for brief periods of time. For long-term care, however, they should be kept in salt water. A salt concentration equal to 1/4th of ocean levels is suitable for younger fish, however adult fish spend most of their time in the ocean, so it is recommended to raise the salt level to 1/2 of ocean levels. Some also recommend using normal ocean water levels for adult fish. Suitable temperatures are 24-28C. An ocean-like PH level of 8 is recommended.

Ecology

Adult Tetraodon nigroviridis are found in freshwater streams, rivers, and flood plains; young are found in brackish water.[5] It is also found in mangrove forests.[1] This is however disputed and the exact habitat of this fish is not yet fully known.[citation needed] Diet consists primarily of snails, but includes small invertebrates such as mollusks, crustaceans, and some plant material.[5] This species may also be lepidophagous.[5]

Genetics

Tetraodon nigroviridis has the smallest known vertebrate genome, roughly 340 million base pairs,[6] and has thus been selected as a model organism for genetics. In 2004 a draft of its genome sequence was published.[6]

Color

Tetraodon nigroviridis' is green on the body with black spots. It's belly is white and its fins/tail are light green.[citation needed]

Commercial importance

Tetraodon nigroviridis is by no means a food fish, but has some value as bait and is very widely traded as an aquarium fish,[5] and is sometimes mistaken as the Ceylon Puffer, or Tetraodon fluviatilis. Tetraodon nigroviridis also has some degree of value as a lab animal, in particular in the field of genetics, because it has the same number of genes as human beings but in a genome about one-tenth the size.[7]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ebert, Klaus (2001-05-31). Aqualog: The Puffers of Fresh and Brackish Waters. Hollywood Import & Export, Inc. ISBN 3-931702-60-X. 
  2. ↑ Schäfer F: Brackish Water Fishes, Aqualog 2005, ISBN 3-936027-82-X
  3. ↑ "University of Florida breeds spotted green puffer fish". AquaDaily. 2009-02-20. Retrieved 2009-02-20. 
  4. ↑ http://news.ufl.edu/2009/02/17/puffer-fish/
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2007). "Tetraodon nigroviridis" in FishBase. August 2007 version.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Jaillon O, Aury J, Brunet F, Petit J, Stange-Thomann N, Mauceli E, Bouneau L, Fischer C, Ozouf-Costaz C, Bernot A, Nicaud S, Jaffe D, Fisher S, Lutfalla G, Dossat C, Segurens B, Dasilva C, Salanoubat M, Levy M, Boudet N, Castellano S, Anthouard V, Jubin C, Castelli V, Katinka M, Vacherie B, Biémont C, Skalli Z, Cattolico L, Poulain J, De Berardinis V, Cruaud C, Duprat S, Brottier P, Coutanceau J, Gouzy J, Parra G, Lardier G, Chapple C, McKernan K, McEwan P, Bosak S, Kellis M, Volff J, Guigó R, Zody M, Mesirov J, Lindblad-Toh K, Birren B, Nusbaum C, Kahn D, Robinson-Rechavi M, Laudet V, Schachter V, Quétier F, Saurin W, Scarpelli C, Wincker P, Lander E, Weissenbach J, Roest Crollius H (2004). "Genome duplication in the teleost fish Tetraodon nigroviridis reveals the early vertebrate proto-karyotype". Nature 431 (7011): 946–57. doi:10.1038/nature03025. PMID 15496914. 
  7. ↑ "Pufferfish and ancestral genomes". Retrieved 2013-01-18. 

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