English Name: Pelagic pufferfish
Family: TETRAODONTIDAE
Local Name: Raagondi koli
Order: Tetraodontiformes
Size: Max. 60 cm
Specimen: MRS/00l4/86
Distinctive Characters: Dorsal fin with 13-15 rays. Anal fin with 11-13 rays. Pectoral fin with 13-16 rays. Body smooth except for well developed spinules on belly from chin to anus. In adults lower caudal fin lobe is longer than upper. Caudal fin emarginate.
Colour: Adults dark green, brownish grey, or blue dorsally, white below. Juveniles to about 18 cm have about 9 uniform bars on back from eye to dorsal fin; dark spots on front and middle of belly and on side near pectoral base in fish less than 33 cm.
Habitat and Biology: Pelagic and oceanic, but occasionally coming closer to reefs.
Distribution: Circumglobal in warm and temperate seas.
Remarks: Although Lagocephalus lagocephalus is not common in Maldives, it is occasionally caught with frigate tuna (Auxis thazard). Previously recorded under the family Lagocephalidae in the Catalogue of Fishes of the Maldives, Vol.1, page 86. A highly poisonous fish. Is thought to have been responsible for some cases of fatal fish poisoning in Maldives in the past.