''Cyclicthys'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

of fish in the porcupinefish family, Diodontidae. Species in the genus are often known as swelltoads.

Distinguishing features

Fish of the genus ''Cyclicthys'' have three-rooted, rigid spines (actually modified scales) distributed over their bodies, and beak-like jaws, used to crush their hard-shelled

prey Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill ...

(

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can ...

s and molluscs). They differ from members of the genus ''

Diodon Porcupinefishes or balloonfishes, are any of the various species of the genus ''Diodon'', the type genus of Diodontidae. Distinguishing features Fish of the genus ''Diodon'' have: * two-rooted, movable spines (which are derived from modified s ...

'', which have moveable spines.

Defensive mechanisms

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 ...

(blowfish) they have the ability to inflate themselves. Their inflated size combined with their spines make them extremely difficult to swallow. They may be poisonous, through the accumulation of

tetrodotoxin Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a potent neurotoxin. Its name derives from Tetraodontiformes, an order that includes pufferfish, porcupinefish, ocean sunfish, and triggerfish; several of these species carry the toxin. Although tetrodotoxin was discovere ...

ciguatera Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP), also known simply as ciguatera, is a foodborne illness caused by eating reef fish whose flesh is contaminated with certain toxins. Such individual fish are said to be ciguatoxic. Symptoms may include diarrhea, vom ...

.Lieske, E. & Myers, R.F. (2004): ''Coral reef guide; Red Sea'' London, HarperCollins

Species

There are currently 3 recognized

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 ...

in this genus:Matsuura, K. (2014): Taxonomy and systematics of tetraodontiform fishes: a review focusing primarily on progress in the period from 1980 to 2014. ''Ichthyological Research, 62 (1): 72-113.''

References

Diodontidae Marine fish genera Taxa named by Johann Jakob Kaup {{Tetraodontiformes-stub