lionfish28
Member
Ok i have a striped puffer and if i get a sea urchin will my puffer eat the urchin?
Is this a stupid question???
- Thread starter lionfish28
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T
thomas712
Guest
I know that pufferfish can and do eat urchins, not sure about the specific spieces to speices though.
Thomas
Thomas
leopard_babe
Active Member
I had a porky, and a pencil urchin. I don't think that my puffer even knew that the urchin was there. I never saw the puffer go near it. I think it depends on the personality of your puffer. Everyone has a different experience. If your puffer is nosey, and curious there is a chance that it could bother the urchin. However if your puffer is laid back, not nosey, and leaves the other fish alone, I would say that you should be ok. IMO I think that you could have a puffer and a urchin.
HTH
Leopard
HTH
Leopard
conogre
Member
The only stupid question is one that's never asked.
There is no definitive answer to your question as asked because it depends upon the size of the puffer and the type of sea urchin, but basically, yes.
The puffers most likely to kill urchins in the home aquarium are the smallest, ie the tobies who would happily munch away at tube feet all day long.
With your more common puffers (Arathon sp.) will generally ignore all urchins unless the specimen is in the HUGE category, meaning a foot or larger.......at this size, if they decide the urchin is edible, it's lunch, shell, spines and all, but this is still unusual.
The family of fish most noted for destroying urchins is the Triggerfish, who are closely related to the Puffers, with the predator/prey relationship between the Queen Trigger and the Atlantic long-spined urchin one of the most famous, to the point that a very stupid Florida law was passed by a well meaning, but not too swift politician.
Urchins, by the way, are also accepted as food by and preyed upon by Harlequin shrimp of starfish eating fame.
Mike
There is no definitive answer to your question as asked because it depends upon the size of the puffer and the type of sea urchin, but basically, yes.
The puffers most likely to kill urchins in the home aquarium are the smallest, ie the tobies who would happily munch away at tube feet all day long.
With your more common puffers (Arathon sp.) will generally ignore all urchins unless the specimen is in the HUGE category, meaning a foot or larger.......at this size, if they decide the urchin is edible, it's lunch, shell, spines and all, but this is still unusual.
The family of fish most noted for destroying urchins is the Triggerfish, who are closely related to the Puffers, with the predator/prey relationship between the Queen Trigger and the Atlantic long-spined urchin one of the most famous, to the point that a very stupid Florida law was passed by a well meaning, but not too swift politician.
Urchins, by the way, are also accepted as food by and preyed upon by Harlequin shrimp of starfish eating fame.
Mike