Valentini Puffer (Canthigaster valentini)

The Valentini Puffer or Canthigaster valentini is a species of Pufferfish that has the amazing ability to inflate its body to almost twice its size when threatened. This can make it rather difficult when water changes come, but putting the fish in a container to transport seems to do the trick.  You can check out the Valentini Puffer in the video below... 

Valentini Pufferfish go by a couple different names including the Saddle Valentini Puffer, Saddled Toby, Black Saddle Pufferfish, Valentini Toby and the Black Saddled Toby. They are a beautiful mix of Blacks, Blues, Oranges, Tans and Yellows. Like other Pufferfish, they lack pelvic fins which make them quite interesting to watch swimming. They actually use their pectoral fins to maneuver themselves around. Growing to about 4" maximum, they are not particularly large for a Puffer.

As you can imagine, they are quite popular in an aquarium setting, although they are not the easiest to take care of. An aquarium of 40 gallons or more with the following water conditions is recommended, 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4 and sg 1.020-1.025. The Saddle Valentini Puffer is an omnivore that should be fed hard shelled shrimp, squid, krill and clams. Watch out, these fish should not be kept with Filefish and Tobies.