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Teleostei (teleosts) > Tetraodontiformes (Puffers and filefishes) > Tetraodontidae (Puffers) > Tetraodontinae
Etymology: Pelagocephalus: Name 'Pelagios' meaning of the sea, in allusion to the envisioned offshore, openwater habitat and 'cephalus' or head, in allusion both to the sleek head and to the similarity of the name with that of Lagocephalus (rabbit head; appropriate for most species, but not for the two which are pelagic), one of the several genera closely related to it.
Eponymy: Mark Pote was a schoolboy when (as the etymology states): “On the morning of 17 November 1979, Mark Pote found an unusual littIe puffer fish alive in a tide pool at Port Alfred on the southeast coast of South Africa. [...] (Ref. 128868), visit book page.

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

Marine; demersal. Temperate

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

Southeast Atlantic: Port Alfred to Knysna (South Africa). Southwest Pacific: New Zealand.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: L_m ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 12.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4919)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 9. Emerald green reticulations on back and caudal peduncle, becoming black laterally and bright silver ventrally (Ref. 4919).

Probably pelagic.

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

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

Smith, M.M. and P.C. Heemstra, 1986. Tetraodontidae. p. 894-903. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. (Ref. 4919)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)

Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 08 June 2011

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

Harmless

Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
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Diet composition
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Ecology
Ecology

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

Life cycle
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Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
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Eggs
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Distribution
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Anatomy
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Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804): PD₅₀ = 0.7500 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].

Bayesian length-weight: a=0.02570 (0.01199 - 0.05511), b=2.89 (2.71 - 3.07), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).

Trophic level (Ref. 69278): 3.3 ±0.2 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).

Pelagocephalus marki Heemstra & Smith, 1981