Diodon tenuispinus AGASSIZ, 1833

Taxonomy

Porcupinefish, Blowfish

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopteri Cope 1871
Order: Tetraodontiformes Berg 1940
Family: Diodontidae Billberg 1833
Genus: Diodon
Species: Diodon tenuispinus
Author Citation AGASSIZ, 1833

Geological Time Scale

Eon: Phanerozoic
Era: Cenozoic
Period: Paleogene
Sub Period: None
Epoch: Eocene
International Age: Lutetian

Stratigraphy

Monte Bolca Formation

Biostratigraphy

Alveolina dainelli Zone

Provenance

Acquired by: Purchase/Trade

Dimensions

Length: 2 cm

Location

Pesciara ("The Fishbowl")
Monte Bolca near Verona
Veneto
Italy

• blowfish
• diodon
• eocene
• italy
• monte bolca
• pesciara
• porcupinefish
• tff-oilshale-ch550

Comments

Diodon holocanthus, inflated (own work of Ibrahim lujaz from Rep. Of Maldives)

 

Diodon nicthemerus (own work of user Springcold at da.wikipedia)

 

Porcupinefish belong to the family Diodontidae within the Tetraodontiformes order and are also commonly called blowfish. They have the ability to swallow water or air and to inflate their body making it harder for predators to swallow them. When the fish inflates, sharp spines radiate outwards as a second defense mechanism. Some species are poisonous, having tetrodotoxin in their internal organs. Fugu is the Japanese word for pufferfish and is also a Japanese dish made out of the pufferfish meat. Because fugu is lethally poisonous if prepared incorrectly, fugu has become one of the most celebrated and notorious dishes in Japanese cuisine.

Porcupinefish are medium to large sized fish and are found in shallow temperate and tropical seas worldwide.

Monte Bolca is an important lagerstatte for Tetraodontiformes with Diodon tenuispinus as one of its oldest records.

References:

J. C. Tyler and F. Santini (2002) Review and reconstructions of the tetraodontiform fishes from the Eocene of Monte Bolca, Italy, with comments on related Tertiary taxa. Studi e Ricerche sui Giacimenti Terzari di Bolca. Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Verona 9:47-119.