Canthigaster rostrata

Canthigaster rostrata, commonly known as the Caribbean sharpnose puffer, is small pufferfish. When young they look quite dull with a cream base colour and greenish-grey back. But when they get older the cream becomes a little more orange. The caudal fin gets yellow and they develop blue spots and stripes on the lower half of the body, making it a really nice Canthigaster.

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. rostrata is one of the friendliest pufferfishes, which even forms groups sometimes, but they remain pufferfishes so each individual can have a different temper. In a tank they can best be kept alone or as a mated couple/harem to prevent territorial fights.

Although these are one of the most reefsafe pufferfishes, they can always nip certain corals till the point that they die. In nature they feed mainly on seagrass, sponges and crab 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.