They often congregate in schools and once you find them it is possible to catch them in big numbers. Size: To 2 feet.Ĭatching blowfish certainly is not rocket science. Young: three to four dark brown saddles above some dark spots. Fleshy fold from behind lower base of pectoral fin to caudal fin. The prickles are small, with two well-developed basal prongs, and a fourth prong that is very small and located at front, if present. Body entirely unscaled except for the prickly belly and underside of the head. Dorsal fin begins at a point about midway between bases of pectoral and caudal fins. Dorsal and anal fins high, with 12 to 13 rays each. Caudal fin shallow but distinctly forked upper lobe longer. Usually entirely gray to olive-gray, darker above than below sides somewhat silvery. The northern puffer reaches up to 36 cm (1 foot, 2 inches) in length, but is usually around 20 cm (8 inches). A small dorsal fin is set far back near the tail. Sphoeroides maculatus, like others in the puffer family, “puffs up” into a ball in self-defense by inhaling air or water into a special chamber near its stomach.

Lower sides of the body have a row of black, elongate, bar-like markings. It has tiny jet-black pepper spots (about 1 mm in diameter) scattered over most of pigmented surface, particularly evident on cheeks. Its color is poorly defined black/dark green spots and saddles and a yellow to white belly.

Adults have small spines covering the entire body with a tiny beak-like mouth. The northern puffer is a club-shaped fish with a gray, brown or olive back and a yellow or white belly. Take this fish off the hook carefully and release it. You can easily cross contaminate fillet tables, knifes, buckets, etc. Forget trying to clean Smooth Puffers properly. Even if their procedure was made public, don’t take the risk. When it comes to cleaning puffers, toxins such as those in the smooth puffer are so dangerous that only one US importer in NYC can import Fugu (Japanese Puffer) from one Japanese processing plant under an agreement between the Japanese government and FDA. Toxins can be found in all organs, intestines and even in the skin. Proper cleaning without cutting or puncturing the liver or any viscera renders the flesh perfectly safe.Īs for the smooth puffer, we are not that lucky. The flesh of the northern puffer is not toxic but there is scientific evidence that indicates that when toxins are found, they are isolated to the liver. Also, these toxins cannot be frozen or cooked out. According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), these toxins are deadlier than cyanide and there are no known antidotes for these toxins. The neurotoxins in puffers responsible for illness and death are Tetrodotoxin and Saxitoxin, which adversely affect the human central nervous system. Most species are poisonous, and some are the most poisonous fish on Earth. Puffers belong to the family Tetradontidae, which is comprised of approximately 120 known species spread out over 28 genera. The frightening part was that some of these fish were eaten, and luckily, no one died. The smooth puffer grows much larger, and I have seen photos of 8-pounders caught the past couple of seasons in local waters. Over the past few years, the Smooth Puffer (Lagocephalus laevigatus) has been making a prominent appearance in catches in the NY/NJ area, and this member of the puffer family is a serious threat to your health if not cleaned properly. That being said, there really haven’t been any known cases of illness or death associated with these blowfish in our area or any other area for that matter. Over that time span, we’ve heard from numerous sources that the fish contain a poison sack that must be cut out properly, otherwise you will get sick. For some of us, we’ve been catching blowfish, more specifically northern puffers (Sphoeroides maculates), since childhood.

Northern puffer fish