Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Tetraodontiformes (Puffers and filefishes) > Tetraodontidae (Puffers) > Tetraodontinae
Etymology: Sphoeroides: Greek, sphaira = ball + Greek, suffix, oides = similar to (Ref. 45335).

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; demersal. Subtropical; 31°N - 18°N, 98°W - 82°W

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Atlantic: northern and western Gulf of Mexico, from northwestern Florida in USA to Campeche in Mexico.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 15.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 7251)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 8; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 7. Dorsally and laterally, basal pigmentation is a light grey or brown, with numerous spots and blotches, especially evident on lower flanks, where they form an irregular row near the ventrolateral body angle. An axil spot present, but is no more intense than other lateral spots and blotches. Ventral surface unpigmented. Prickles present from the snout to near dorsal fin, and chin to near to near anus ventrally, and present laterally on cheeks and to near level of dorsal fin. Lappets absent (Ref 53033).

Inhabits shallow, turbid coastal waters and estuaries.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Oviparous (Ref. 101750).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Matsuura, Keiichi | Collaborators

Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray, 1986. A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p. (Ref. 7251)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-2)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 11 August 2011

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators

Ecology
Ecology

Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance

Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics

Distribution
Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
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Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith

Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)

Genetics
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability

Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.

Outreach
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Taxonomy
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Synonyms
Morphology
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Pictures

References
References

Tools

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 123201): 23.2 - 27.1, mean 24.2 °C (based on 188 cells).

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.02291 (0.01031 - 0.05092), b=2.89 (2.72 - 3.06), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.4 ±0.4 se; based on size and trophs of closest relatives

Resilience (Ref. 120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).

Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).

Price category (Ref. 80766): Very high.

Sphoeroides parvus Shipp & Yerger, 1969