Canthigaster margaritata

Canthigaster margaritata, commonly known as the Margarita toby, is one of the largest Canthigaster. Their base colour is dark brown on the upper half and white on the belly. It is covered in very light blue spots which are more striped around the back and eyes.

Pufferfishes are very intelligent fish and will quickly learn to recognize you and your behaviour. Their intelligence and behaviour make you soon treat these animals more like a dog than a fish. C. margaritata can best be kept alone or as a mated couple/harem to prevent territorial fights.

Although these are one of the more reefsafe pufferfishes, they can certainly nip corals till the point that they die. In nature they feed mainly on sponges, bristleworms and algae but they also eat worms, shrimps, mollusks, coralline red algae and corals from time to time! So make sure to offer them a varied diet of meaty foods and algae to minimize the damage to corals.