BLACK SADDLED TOBY
Super Cute but highly poisonous. They are oftentimes seen in corals openly swimming though very elusive especially to photographers. They swim sideways as if telling us they don’t want to be photographed. I saw him in Batok Dive site, about 3 Meters from the surface, while waiting for my companions to settle in underwater. This cutie allowed me a side photo and then slowly wound it’s way to a hiding spot, never to be seen again.
Eyes set high and protruding, a usual puffer snout, like a shark, did you notice? Hence sharpnose. White based body with brown stripes on the nose that gets larger towards the back like map markings and then becomes dotted specks on the to the belly. Small Orange to brown spots on its abdomen.
Males are larger, with turquoise lines coming from the head. You can easily mistake a black saddled toby with a Mimic Saddle Filefish because as the name says the latter copycats the former. But you can distinguish the two from their dorsal fin. The Black Saddled Toby has one small dorsal sprouting on almost it’s back end while the Mimic Saddle Filefish has an almost continuous first and second dorsal fin, oh and it is not a puffer but a filefish relatives of puffers, triggers and trunk fishes. Do not be fooled even if it took many years for the mimic saddle filefish to look like it’s puffer counterpart, they are two distinct fishes that can land you in jail if you try to pass one of as the other. LOL, but yeah seriously.
Also known as the Valentini Puffer or the Saddle Valentini Puffer, they are pretty much voracious eaters of corals. Not a good thing. But they are more carnivorous eaters, proteins from shrimps, clams, mussels and some algae.
They are fairly solitary creatures that needs their space. They are known to attack other fishes, specially in aquariums, so one needs a huge tank to keep them from being violent. Like any puffer they are covered in toxic mucus that can be harmful when consumed and puff up like a football when threatened.
But they are cute though, always nice to see one on a dive, snorkeling or scuba. I am enthralled to watch them, they remind me of cats. Must be an attitude thing, cos they can be quite snobbish little fishies. A good thing too since they are not meant to be held.
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