The Boy in the Submarine – Season 3, Episode 5: Puffer Fish

Puffer fish are actually a whole family of fish with somewhere between 120 and 200 species. They are famous for their ability to blow themselves up like a balloon to scare off predators, but that’s not their only defence! Puffer fish are very poisonous and anything that eats them is in serious trouble. Many of them have spines on their body as well. They need all the defences they can get, because they are slow and clumsy swimmers.

Puffer fish scrape algae from rocks, or use the “beak” made up of their fused-together front teeth to crack open the shells of snails, crabs, and shellfish. They can be found anywhere the water is warm, and live both in salt and fresh water.