Diving in the Hot Season – Blog Log 15 April 2012

April 15, 2012

Reticulated pufferfish Photo: Khoo Min Hui

What better way to beat the April heat than to spend it underwater at Pulau Hantu? A handful of divers today braved the 31degC temperatures, plunging into the waters with huge sigh of relief before descending into appreciably clear waters of Pulau Hantu’s reef. First on their list was this Reticulated Pufferfish (Arothron reticularis). It can grow to 16 inches in the wild. Apart from reefs they can also be found in sea-grass beds. Juveniles enter mangrove zones and river mouths, so apart from the sea they can also be found in brackish or even freshwater. Individuals found in fresh water are usually a dirty grey in colour, while its marine counterparts with the attractive contrasting reticulated pattern as in the individual above, appear only when these fish live in salt water. This species is known to have a preference for mussels, but like all puffers they need to eat hard-shelled foods to keep their “beaks” trimmed, e.g. clams, oysters, mussels, crabs, squid, scallops, shrimp, etc. [1] See a video of this fish at Hantu. Read the rest of this entry »

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