''Pao leiurus''Kottelat, M. (2013)
The Fishes of the Inland Waters of Southeast Asia: A Catalogue and Core Bibliography of the Fishes Known to Occur in Freshwaters, Mangroves and Estuaries.
''The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 2013, Supplement No. 27: 1–663.'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

pufferfish 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

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

from

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and in particular the

Mekong basin The Mekong or Mekong River is a trans-boundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's twelfth longest river and the third longest in Asia. Its estimated length is , and it drains an area of , discharging of water annuall ...

. It is occasionally imported into the

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

trade but is reported to be aggressive and snappish.

Characteristics

''P. leiurus'', which grows to around , can be identified by dirty brown, brownish grey or gray markings on the upper part of the body which is poorly separated from markings on the lower body which tends to be dirty off-white, yellowish or pale grey with dusky mottling or spots. ''P. leiurus'' also typically display occelated spots which may be red, green or blue. ''P. leiurus'' are typically found in tropical

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

brackish Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater (salt water) and fresh water together, as in estuari ...

water, with temperatures ranging between 24 °C and 28 °C, including streams and rivers in upland and lowland areas, flowing and standing water habitats, swamps, and reservoirs. Like most

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 ...

, ''P. leiurus'' is a

molluscivore A molluscivore is a carnivorous animal that specialises in feeding on molluscs such as gastropods, bivalves, brachiopods and cephalopods. Known molluscivores include numerous predatory (and often cannibalistic) molluscs, (e.g.octopuses, murexes, de ...

and feeds on molluscs, crustaceans, and other invertebrates.

References

External links

Photograph
Tetraodontidae Freshwater fish of Malaysia Freshwater fish of Indonesia Fish of Singapore Fish of Thailand Fish of the Mekong Basin Brackish water organisms Fish described in 1850 {{Tetraodontiformes-stub