Pufferfish like this White-Spotted Puffer Arothron hispidus are thought to have developed their... The TerraMar Project originally shared: Pufferfish like this White-Spotted Puffer Arothron hispidus are thought to have developed their "inflate-ability " because of their slow and clumsy swimming style, which makes them vulnerable to predators. When threatened, these animals can use their elastic stomach and ability to rapidly ingest water to inflate themselves to a ball several times their normal size. Some species of pufferfish also have added protection in the form of spines. Almost all pufferfish contain tetrodotoxin, a substance that makes them foul tasting and often lethal to fish. To humans, tetrodotoxin is deadly, up to 1,200 times more poisonous than cyanide. There is enough toxin in one pufferfish to kill 30 adult humans, and there is no known antidote. Amazingly, the meat of some pufferfish is considered a delicacy. Called fugu in Japan, it is extremely expensive and only prepared by trained, licensed chefs who know that one bad cut means almost certain death for a customer. In fact, many such deaths occur annually. Learn more about the incredible marine life in our world's oceans by visiting us today at: http://ift.tt/XJinpo Photo: Brocken Inaglory/Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)#puffer #pufferfish #Hawaii #marinelife #marinespecies #conservation #savethefish #waterislife #TerraMar #marineconservation View full size (800x600)

via John Currin (JC's Nature) - Google+ Public Posts http://ift.tt/2sPChbs