[uNGu]™ Fish : Dwarf Puffer - Carinotetraodon travancorius

Dwarf Puffer

This dwarf pufferfish, Carinotetraodon travancorius, is the smallest pufferfish in the world (at least in the aquarium hobby). There are some other pufferfish spieces could be regarded as "dwarf", such as the South-Ameriacan puffer, but, it is the most common (at least in the pufferfish mailing list) to refer to this pufferfish as "Dwarf Puffer". My first dwarf puffers were about 1.5cm long when I bought them in 1999. I couldn't keep them more than 2 years, but they had got 3cm long in the 2 years. They begun breeding a half year after I got them. Now (Dec. 2001), I'm keeping 2 of the second generations and some of the third generations.

I got many helps in breeding dwarf puffer from former members of the Pufferfish mailing list. I quoted an message about the scientific name posted by Manuela on the Pufferfish mailing list. I'm borrowing great pictures of microorganisims from Wim van Egmond.

Appearance

Body shape is as photo. Color of eyes can changes to black, blue-green and dark orange by the reflection of light. Each eyes move any directions independently. The mouth pouted a little is normally half-opened and is occasionally opened widely - yawning. Each fins except tail fin is moving busily. The tail fin can be opened like a secter and be closed like a tail of tadpole. She in this photo has dark green spots and small dots on the yellow back. But they can changes the color of their back to light-brown, and can fade the color of these spots.

Water Condition

I had not known proper temp. and pH of water when I started keeping this fish. Temp. of my heater always was fixed at 27°C(80°F), but in this summer, it raised over 30°C(86°F) once in a while. I thought it's bad for the puffers and I searched the information within the Internet. I found some descriptions such as "22°C - 29°C", "around 25°C", "weak alkaline - weak asidic", and so on. This fish seems to be well in wide conditions.

Foods

Frozen Bloodworms 

It's most favorite food of my puffers. They jumps to eat it. I've feeding it to them once or twice a day since I started keeping them.

Live Tubifex Worms

I can NOT recommend it because many people claim that it can be a carrier of  bacterial infections. I feed live tubifex bought from a reliable shop to them occasionally (twice at a month or so).

Live Bloodworms

I've read that the term 'live bloodworms' often means live tubifex in the U.S., but that I mean now is true live bloodworms (midge-fly larvae). I bay it from a local FISHING shop (not a fish shop). It has been sold as a bait. It's pretty bigger than frozen one. My puffers seems love to eat it as well as frozen one.

Snails 

Snails seems to be a good live food for puffers. Many members of the Pufferfish mailing list uses it as puffers food. I'm keeping pond snails in other tank (Bee-shrimp tank) as puffers food, and I've tried it to my puffer, But I myself have never seen that my puffer eating it. But it's also true that no snails appears in my planted tank.

Flakes

Mine ignore flake foods.

Fins

If you kept another fish with dwarfs, they dwarfs eats a fin of another fish when they got hangry.

Common Names

Here in Japan, they are refered as "Abeni puffer". But nobody, at least peoples I asked, knows what "Abeni" means, fish shop clearks so, another pufferfish homepages so and aquaristic magazines so. It's simular pronounciation as a French word "avenir" for Japanese. Maybe the name was given by exporter/importer or someone in distributions, but It's still mistery.
In Ian's Homepages (U.K.), they are refered as "Dwarf puffer",  and also several synonyms.  Another homepage says they are called "Malabar pufferfish" in India. "Malabar" looks like a place name in Kerala state, southwest India ("Travancore" is also place name in Kerala state.).  Also I found the name "Malabar-Kugelfisch" and "Zwergkugelfische (dwarf pufferfish)" in a German homepage.

Scientific Name

I had been not sure what exactly is the scientific name of dwarf puffer. I found some different names such as Tetraodon travancorius,Tetraodon travancoricus,Monotretus travancoricus, Monotetrus Travancoricus and so on in the Internet and in a Japanese aquaristics magazine. But now I realized my dwarf puffers are "Carinotetraodon travancorius" and also there are two spiecies (at least now) in so called "dwarf puffer".
Thanks: The descriptions below (written in Italic letters) are quoted from the messages on the ONEList Pufferfish mailing list with the agreement of Manuela who posted this.
Message-ID:
Carinotetraodon travancorius 
The travancorius has been defined as Monotreta (a subgenus of Tetraodon) travancorius - which surely isn't right. It must be a Carinotetraodon becauso of the combs and the sexual dichromatism of the males that is similar to the lortedi; no other pufferfish does have this.
There are two variations of the travancorius: the one you keep
with big spots at the side and small ones on the back; and one I do keep with big
spots at the side and on the back.
*)The 'comb' (or 'crest') means that swelling part appears along the black line of male's belly when he is threatening others or is in courtship behavior.

Carinotetraodon imitator 
The imitator has been defined correctly as Carinotetraodon. But it isn't clear now
if the travancorius and the imitator are the same species (different colour vari-
ations) or not. I think that there won't be a scientist soon who will try to find
this out. But it is known that they are imported from different places, so both
things are possible.

Way of Sexing

It is diffcult to sex young dwarf puffers, but if your dwarf puffers grown enough, you can sex them easily by the following way:

• Male has brown virtical line on his belly.
• Female has no such a line.

"Brown virtical line"…When a male doing courtship behaviour or other aggresive work, this line got dark brown and thicker. When not so, got light brown and thinner. Left:Normal time, Right: When he threatening another.

"Wrinkles behind eyes"…Two males of mine has this (and females hasn't), but It may just be an indivisuality.
  "Body shape of female"…female is rounder than male. Especially spawning season.

Tank Mates

In general, almost all kind of puffers is fin nipper. Or large spiecies can eat another fishes. Dwarf puffer is tiny but is also fin nipper. They nips a caudal fin (tail fin) of another kind of fish and even fellows. They does it when they are hungly, so you can keep another some kinds with them if you could feed enough and didn't make them hungly.
In my experience, Otocinclus can be kept with them. At the first time I introduced Otos into the puffer tank, dwarf puffers nipped the caudal fin of Otos. But gradually Otos would swim away when puffers come around thier backward. Otos might learned from the pain...? Now, they have getting along (or ignoring each others).

Breeding

I heard it is not so often that a puffer spawn in a captivity. They spawned after about a half year since I got them. There is summary of what happened in the spawning season in this page. I'm happy if this would be help who intended to breeding dwarf puffer. They keep spawning even now, I will add the progress to this page.

Outline

I had kept six (two males and four females) dwarf puffers since April, 1999. When I brought them in my tank, they seemed to be just like kids, were one or one and half centimeter long. At first time, they all were in the Tank 1. Tank 1 was not densely planted then, had a few plants and two 10x10cm stones in it. When I saw courtship behavior first was about five months later (Sep. 12, 1999). A male has following a female after and snuggling to her. I saw such activities every day after the day. One day, two males did fights very hard. I thought if one might kills the other, so I bought a new tank (Tank 2) and did isolate three (a male and two females) of them to the new tank. Soon after the day, I saw spawning and then found a egg in the Tank 1. A few days after, I found eggs in the Tank 2. They seemed to get into spawning season at the same time.

Courtship Behavior and Spawning

I saw a courtship behavior at a day a half year after I started keeping them.

Courtship Behavior

• Male snuggling to female and kissing her body with chasing her. Female swims slowly as usual, but male swims with wiggling, that is a sequence of a quick and a little step.
• In case female goes away from male, Male attacks her hard and occasionally bites her.
• In case female does not goes away, male swims beside female and female gradually goes into a narrow space such as a corner of a tank or a shade of plants. Maybe female is searching a good place to spawn.
• While they doing this behavior, the male attacks another fellows (without regard to sex) when he found them. But the male does not attack Otocinclus.
• In case a male and two females are kept in the same tank, male do the courtship behavior with each females, i.e. they three does not make a pair.
• In the tank mentioned above, when a male and a female doing the courtship behavior, the other female keeps hiding and still behind something such as plants.  

Spawning 

• Once female decides a place to spawn, male nestles closely up to the female. Both male and female shakes each body little by little for about 5 or 10 seconds, that is spawning and releasing sperm.
• In the case of mine, almost all spawning was done in/under a mass of Willow moss. It was done rarely by a stem under a big leaf of Anubias Nana.
• Male drives out female when spawning done.
  

Other Points

• While spawning season, the courtship behavior (and maybe spawning) would be done almost every day.
• The courtship behavior and spawning must be done at evening.
• The courtship behavior was done after layout change of a tank and after completely tank cleaning.

Male's Behaviors in Spawning Season

This section is described that the behavior and the appearance of male dwarf puffer in spawning season except courtship behavior and spawning mentioned above. Both male and female does something had never ever seen in spawning season.
Changing Appearance

• Brown vertical line appears on the belly.
• Body shape get pretty sharp and less round than of female.
• Patterns of back are almost always fading (as light brown) as compared with females yellow back.
• Top and bottom edge of tail fin get more yellow than before.
• Patterns on the side get together and to make a line.

Doing Serious Fight With Another Male 
I saw such a fight once, then I worried that if the two males would being together as they are, they would doing fight to death, so I moved the one male and two bride candidates to the other tank. Because of this, I'm not sure whether they do fights to death or not if they were in a same tank for a long period in a spawning season. But I can say it should be considered that separating males in the season. The fight is as follows:
Two males started pecking each other (that is a little fight as usual). A few second later, they two males transformed flatly as if his body was pressed from the side. (this photo had been taken when he started such a transformation and would fight with the other one on the other side of the partition. this was taken at another day.) They ran on the same circle about five rounds. Then they clashed. One bit left side of belly of the other very hard and they gone down behind a mass of willow moss. A few seconds later, they got out of the moss and gone away. After that, I looked at left side of belly of one was bitten, there is something like a wound or wrinkle.
I set a breeding box in the tank and put the one was bitten into the box. Next day I set a partition in the tank and separated each one male and two females to half tank. At last, I set up a new tank and moved tree of them to the tank.
Photo: Two males are going to start such a fight.


Eating Less Amount Of Food
Males does not jump to food and eats less amount of food than females.
Doing Patrol
Until evening, both males and females swims peacefully. From evening to night, males will starts patrolling around a tank (especially around a mass of willow moss) and drives out females very hard from there. Females did often hide behind a leaf of plants.
Keeping Strong Wariness
Every time I get close to the tank, Males do react (get away) extremely. On the other hand, Females doesn't react such.

Place to Spawn

In case of mine, almost all spawning was done in/under a mass of Willow moss(Fontinalis antipyretica). It was done rarely by a stem under a big leaf of Anubias Nana. I think the place they will spawn is :

• a narrow space (that is not enclosed by something hard could hurt their body)
• and where difficult to be found from outside

In my puffer tanks, willow moss is rounded softly and has just been placed between stone, filter pipe and back wall of the tank. It's convenient to pick the eggs up and maybe it would be a good hiding place for fry. But willow moss would be dying gradually because of lack of light.

Eggs

New egg is about 1mm, transparent, has no adhesion and has a little white part. A small number of eggs I found were wind eggs (were cloudy white).

New eggs - almost transparent	After a day -  get light brawn and eyes(?)	After two to three days - expands light brawn part	After four days - almost light brown

Hatch and Larvae

In case of mine, eggs hatch for about 5 days (27°C). At the time this photo was taken, the fry keep still with such a pose for about 20 seconds or so, then got off the egg, swam toward surface and sank to bottom.
 Newly hatched fry is :

• tiny (about 1 - 1.5mm),
• like a drosophila which wrenched blade and foot,
• basically, transparent, around head and base of tail got orange-colored,
• has yolk-sac,
• almost being quiet, swims toward the surface when water flow came, stop swimming at the surface, sank to the bottom as if he did die, and being quiet again at the bottom.

Fry (Within a Week)

For about four days, they start to swim. They are almost still yet,  but sometime run through the bottom of tank and hover nearby willow moss. Appearance is exactly different when they hatched. At first, eyes can be seen clearly, black dot is in the center of gold or light brown eyes. And They can already moves eyes like adult dwarfs does. Outline of body would be as fish. Fins can be seen too. Maybe fins can already moves because they can hover. Brownish color of body gone as compared with when they hatched. At this time, they doesn't eat yet.
For about five to six days, they grows about 3mm. Time to be still would be shorten, they swims around almost all time (except sleeping time). Sometimes they eats white tiny (2mm long) creatures like a earthworm. They chases baby brine shrimps,  but doesn't eat yet.
In my tank, two fry died on a heater. Maybe they were burned by heater when they sat on it. Heater cover may not work due to the size of fry. In my case, I moved the heater to just below exit of water from filter.

Fry (a Week After)

Fry a week after hatching start feeding baby brine shrimps. How much they fed could be seen by looking at  the belly of them. It will turn orange in color when they got fullness. This photo is fry ten days after hatching.
Fry a few weeks after hatching can kill fry a few days after hatching. (I'm not sure if they 'ate' them or not.)

Fry (a Month After)

Fry will be the same body shape as adult  when about a month after hatching. The spots on back would be clear. But the back doesn't get yellow yet and belly doesn't get perfect white yet (orange color of brine shrimp in the stomach could be seen through.). They would be able to feed a smaller bloodworms and a tiny cut of tubifex worms.
Fry in this age, when they were hungry, can kill fry a few weeks after hatching by biting off. I'm not sure if they 'ate' them or not. Separating bigger fry and smaller fry is necessary.

 

Fry Foods

Fry of dwarf puffer would feed brine shrimp for a week after hatching. They feed only moving food for a few weeks. They would feed (small) frozen bloodworms for a month.
Infusoria
A Group of Paramecium

Copyright © Wim van Egmond