Northern Puffer

Sphoeroides maculates

The northern puffer is a club-shaped fish with a gray, brown or olive back and a yellow or white belly. Adults have:

• Small spines covering the entire body.
• A tiny beak-like mouth.
• Black vertical bars on the sides.
• Tiny black spots on the back, sides and cheeks.
• A small dorsal fin that is set far back near the tail.

Northern puffers usually grow to about 8 to 10 inches. They will "puff up" into a ball in self-defense by inhaling air or water into a special chamber near the stomach.

Where does the northern puffer live?

Northern puffers visit the Chesapeake Bay from spring through autumn. They are more common in the lower Bay, but do travel as far north as Love Point on Kent Island. Puffers are bottom-dwelling fish, common in the Bay's flats and channel margins. In the winter, northern puffers leave the Bay for deep offshore waters.

What does the northern puffer eat?

Northern puffers use their strong dental plates to feed on small crustaceans and other invertebrates.

How does the northern puffer reproduce?

Little is known about the life cycle of the northern puffer. They spawn from May through August in shallow waters near the shore. The female puffer lays adhesive eggs that attach to the sandy or muddy bottom, and the male guards the eggs until they hatch.

Other facts about the northern puffer:

• While some members of the puffer family are poisonous, the northern puffer is not. In fact, the northern puffer is a delicious fish, sold in fish markets as "sea squab."
• If caught and thrown back into the water while inflated, a northern puffer will float upside down at the surface for a few moments then quickly deflate and swim away.