the.com/pufferfish
a balloon animal that can kill you, and it knows it.
means A fish that inflates itself into a spiny ball when threatened, many species of which contain a potent, often deadly toxin in their organs.
from A plain English compound, no mystery here: "puffer" from the verb "puff" — which traces back to Old English "pyffan," an imitative word, the sound of breath blown out — plus "fish." The name is pure description: a fish that puffs itself up. The toxin it carries, tetrodotoxin, takes its name from the fish's scientific order Tetraodontiformes, Greek for "four teeth," describing its fused, beak-like teeth.
- poison rank
- deadlier than cyanide, no known antidote
- chef license
- japanese cooks train years to serve it
- inflation trick
- gulps water to balloon several times larger
- secret artist
- males carve ornate sand circles to woo mates
- no spines
- smooth until threatened, then full pincushion
takifugu rubripes — japanese fugu species, contains tetrodotoxin 1,200 times deadlier than cyanide, served as delicacy in japan since 1500s
arothron nigropunctatus — spotted pufferfish in indo-pacific reefs, produces enough toxin to kill 30 adult humans
canthigaster rostrata — caribbean sharpnose pufferfish, uses tetrodotoxin in skin as chemical defense in atlantic coral reefs