The oceanic puffer, sci-name: ''Lagocephalus lagocephalus'' (meaning "rabbit head"), is a pufferfish of the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Tetraodontidae Tetraodontidae is a family of primarily marine and estuarine fish of the order Tetraodontiformes. The family includes many familiar species variously called pufferfish, puffers, balloonfish, blowfish, blowies, bubblefish, globefish, swellfis ...

'', found in all tropical and subtropical oceans, at depths of between 10 and 475 m. Though indigenous to the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans as well as the Sea of Japan, a surge in its distribution throughout the Mediterranean Sea has been reported in years of recent. Its length is up to 61 cm. It is thought to be responsible for fatal poisoning and should therefore not be eaten.

References

Sources

* * Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, ''Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand'', (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) *Coro, Gianpaolo, et al. “Forecasting the Ongoing Invasion of Lagocephalus Sceleratus in the Mediterranean Sea.” ''Ecological Modelling'', vol. 371, 2018, pp. 37–49., doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2018.01.007. Marine fish of Europe Lagocephalus Fish described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus {{Tetraodontiformes-stub