WHAT IS IT?
Fish don’t come much cuter than this little juvenile star puffer. But the adults are giants of the pufferfish world, reaching well over a metre in length. As they grow, those mesmerising, swirling bands of colour break up into a swathe of black polka dots. And being puffers, they can increase their apparent size spectacularly by gulping down seawater. Widespread and common on Indo-Pacific coral reefs, this is one of the puffer species that are prized in Japan for their meat – known collectively as fugu. It’s a potentially deadly delicacy, though, as the fish accumulate a potent neurotoxin in their livers, skin and ovaries and must be prepared by specially trained chefs.