Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

Diodon hystrix Linnaeus, 1758

pez erizo punteado, pez puerco espín, Spotted porcupinefish, porcupinefish

Olive to brown or gray back, fanding to whitish belly. Can pale or darken. Long spines are erect only when body is inflated. Size: Up to at least 91 cm

Habitat: Solitary, usually found near coral developtment or in rocky areas

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Animalia

Phylum
Chordata

Class
Teleostei

Order
Tetraodontiformes

Family
Diodontidae

Genus
Diodon

Species
hystrix

Taxon category: Accepted

Syn.: Diodon armillatus Whitley, 1933, Diodon brachiatus Bloch & Schneider, 1801, Diodon hystrix hystrix Linnaeus, 1758, Diodon nudifrons Jenkins, 1903, Diodon punctatus Cuvier, 1818, Diodon spinosissimus Cuvier, 1818, Diodon totara Curtiss, 1938, Paradiodon hystrix (Linnaeus, 1758), fide Appeltans et al. (2010)

Origin: Native

Status

Least concern

Distribution

Distribution: circumtropical; in the eastern Pacific from California to Chile, also Easter and Galapagos Islands

References

  • Grove, J.S. Lavenberg, R.J. (1997) The Fishes of the Galapagos Islands. Stanford University Press, Stanford California. 862 pp.
  • Humann, P. Deloach, N. (2003) Reef Fish Identification - Galapagos. New World Publication, Inc. Florida USA & Libri Mundi, Quito, Ecuador, 226 pp.
  • Appeltans, W. Bouchet, P., Boxshall, G.A., Fauchald, K., Gordon, D.P., Hoeksema, B.W., Poore, G.C.B., van Soest, R.W.M., Stöhr, S., Walter, T.C., Costello, M.J. (eds.) (2010) World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). Available online at http://www.marinespecies.org.
  • IUCN (2010) IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 26 April 2010.
  • McCosker, J.E. Rosenblatt, R.H. (2010) The fishes of the Galápagos Archipelago: an update. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sc., Ser. 4, vol. 61, Suppl. II, no. 11: 167-195.
  • Constant, P. (2007) Marine Life of the Galapagos. The Diver's guide to Fishes, Whales, Dolphins and marine Invertebrates, 307 pp.
  • IUCN (2023) The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2022-2 Https://www.iucnredlist.org

You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.

This page should be cited as follows:

"Galapagos Species Database, Diodon hystrix", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=7828. Accessed 6 May 2025.