[Killietalk] Snails and Puffers

[rscalf at jps_net]

> Dwarf puffers are also snail-eaters, but I have no idea how they get along with killies.
 
Dwarf Puffers (Carinotetraodon travancoricus) are astonishing.  A friend has three that I believe are less than full grown. They have powerful jaws, and apparently bony ridges on their mandibles instead of teeth. I watched one swim up to a snail that was larger than the fish, attach, crunch a little hole in the shell, then vacuum-suck the snail through that hole. The empty shell eventually fell to the bottom.  Like sucking eggs!  

It's a tiny, slow moving fish. There is some intra-specific aggression, but they don't seem to bother other species.

   Rusty Scalf
   Berkeley, CA






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