Oceanic Puffer, Lagocephalus lagocephalus
Oceanic Puffer, Lagocephalus lagocephalus. Fish provided by the commercial fishermen of the greater Los Cabos area, Baja California Sur, December 2008. Length: 40 cm (16 inches).
The Oceanic Puffer, Lagocephalus lagocephalus, is a member of the Puffer or Tetraodontidae Family, that is known in Mexico as botete oceánico or simply botete. Globally, there are ten species in the genus Lagocephalus, of which two are found in Mexican waters, one from the Atlantic and this species found in both the Atlantic and the Pacific, making it one of very few fishes that are found in both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.
The Oceanic Puffer has an elongated body with a depth that is 21% to 25% of standard length. Their head and upper body are dark blue green with gray brown tones. Their sides are silver with black spots and their undersides are white. Their anal and pectoral fins are two-toned (upper third transparent, lower two-thirds dark) and their caudal and dorsal fins are dark. Their head is large, projecting, and blunt, with large elevated eyes. They have a small mouth and a long snout that is longer than the distance between their eyes. They have strong powerful teeth. Their pointed anal and dorsal fins are mid-sized and similar in shape and location, have short bases, and are found well back on their body; their caudal fin base is slender; the caudal fin is slightly concave caudal fin with a longer lower lobe. Their body skin is smooth with the exception of small spines that run from the chin to the anus on their ventral side. Overall their skin is tough and scaleless.
The Oceanic Puffer is an oceanic pelagic fish that are also found in estuaries from the surface to depths of 1,000 m (3,300 feet). They reach a maximum of 61 cm (2 feet 0 inches) in length. As of January 1, 2023, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 3.17 kg (7 lbs 0 oz) with the fish caught in coastal waters off New Jersey in August 1991. They are a wide ranging species found in all global tropical and subtropical waters. The Oceanic Puffer is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Oceanic Puffer is a resident of all Mexican waters of the Atlantic, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, and the Pacific Oceans, with the exception that they are absent from the northern portions of the Sea of Cortez.
The Oceanic Puffer can easily be confused with the Smooth Puffer, Lagocephalus laevigatus (belly without spotting; caudal fin with equal length lobes uniformly colored pectoral fins; juveniles with 3 or 4 dark saddles).
From a conservation perspective the Oceanic Puffer is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are caught primarily by deep water trawls and utilized on a very limited basis for human food by some cultures. I have seen this fish in pristine condition regurgitated or in the stomach contents of Dorado. Note: Like many Puffers, the Oceanic Puffer is reputed to be highly poisonous, even fatal, if eaten, due to the potential presence of potent neurotoxins saxitoxin and/or tetrodotoxin, which is found in their skin, viscera, and gonads and is believed to protect them from predation by larger fish. Human consumption is not recommended.