Tiger pufferfish (fugu)

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When threatened, the tiger pufferfish gulps water to swell into a ball that is hard to swallow. Its organs hold tetrodotoxin, a powerful poison, so in Japan only specially licensed chefs may prepare fugu for eating.

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At a glance

Class: Fish
Diet: Meat eater (carnivore)
Length: about 0.4 m
Conservation status: Near Threatened (IUCN NT)
Habitat: coasts

Quick answers

Where does the Tiger pufferfish (fugu) live?

It lives in coasts of the Pacific Ocean.

How big is the Tiger pufferfish (fugu)?

It grows to about 0.4 m.

What does the Tiger pufferfish (fugu) eat?

Its diet: meat eater (carnivore).

Is the Tiger pufferfish (fugu) endangered?

It is listed as Near Threatened (IUCN NT).

Pufferfish are round fish that swell up like balls when they are frightened, and some, called fugu in Japan, are famous as food. The tiger pufferfish gulps water to inflate its body so it is hard for a predator to swallow. There are close to 200 species in the pufferfish family, mostly in oceans and river mouths.

Their organs, especially the liver and ovaries, hold a very strong poison called tetrodotoxin. Because of this, fugu is a carefully controlled food in Japan, Korea and other countries, and only trained chefs are allowed to prepare it. In Japan a chef needs three or more years of strict training.

A poison with no antidote

Tetrodotoxin is found mostly in the liver, ovaries, eyes and skin. It paralyses the muscles while the person stays awake, and breathing stops. There is no known antidote, so doctors can only support breathing until the body clears the poison. Researchers found the fish do not make the poison themselves: it comes from animals they eat that carry certain bacteria, and fish raised on farms away from those bacteria are poison-free.

Fugu on the plate

Fugu is served in Japan as thin sashimi and in hot-pot dishes. The liver was once seen as the tastiest part, but also the most poisonous, so serving it in restaurants was banned in Japan in 1984. In Japan, Korea and China, fugu has become a prized delicacy. Careless home cooking sometimes causes accidental deaths, which is why rules are so strict.

Fun facts

In Japan only licensed chefs may prepare fugu, because its organs contain a deadly poison called tetrodotoxin.
A pufferfish can swallow a lot of water to puff up into a ball.
Tetrodotoxin has no known antidote.
Fugu farmed away from bacteria can be free of poison.