Puff, puff and away

So to enjoy the gorgeous day we had here yesterday, Benjamin and I went down to the Sandbridge pier to do some fishing. Well, he fished - I sat soaking up the last rays of the day from a gorgeous sunset.

Anyway, it was a great evening and he even caught a couple of roundheads, a skate (kin to the sting-ray), and a pufferfish. You know - like Bloat on Finding Nemo. (Brad Garrett was his voice.)

So for fun, I headed over to Wikipedia (got to love that place!) and found a few facts and some fun trivia for you to enjoy.

Fast facts:

Also called blowfish, swellfish, globefish, balloonfish, Pufferfish are named for their ability to inflate themselves to several times their normal size by swallowing water or air when threatened; the same adaptation is found in the closely related porcupinefish, which have large conspicuous spines (unlike the small, almost sandpaper-like spines of pufferfish).

The eyes and internal organs of most pufferfish are highly toxic, but nevertheless its meat is considered a delicacy in Japan and Korea. The name "fugu" is used both for the fish that are eaten and for their meat.

Pufferfish are also one of few kinds of fish that can blink or close their eyes. (Some claim they are the only fish that can close its eyes, but certain attacking sharks close their eyes to protect themselves from struggling prey.)

Did you know...

Dolphins have been observed using pufferfish as a sort of toy in the wild. They tease the pufferfish with their teeth, causing the small fish to become alarmed and then inflate. After a while the fish calms down and deflates, thus starting the cycle over again. It is speculated that dolphins may also enjoy the mild numbing effect from small amounts of the pufferfish toxin.

When lifted out of water, pufferfish can inflate with air, but they may have problems deflating again afterwards. When this happens with aquarium specimens, fishkeepers hold the puffer underwater by the tail, head upwards, and shake the fish gently until the air escapes out of the mouth.

So, don't eat a blowfish unless you're brave and have medical facilities nearby and should you need to deflate one, hold it underwater by its tail and shake it - but be gentle.