Striped burrfish

Chilomycterus schoepfi

Species Information
Exhibit Name and Location Maryland: Mountains to the Sea, Coastal Beach – Main Aquarium, Level 2
Description of Animal Striped burrfish have large heads and somewhat bulging eyes that are spaced widely apart. They are yellow-brown to olive-brown with large dark splotches along their bodies. Their eyes are golden yellow with iridescent blue-green specks in the pupil. Burrfish are covered with short, heavy spines that are always erect—unlike their cousins the porcupinefish, which have movable spines. They move by undulating or waving their pectoral fins and tails rather than by bending the entire body.
Aquarist's Note Striped burrfish, like all of the burrfish and pufferfish, can take in water to inflate their bodies considerably when threatened. Our specimen has adapted well to his new home and rarely inflates—even during moves between tanks. He seems to relate the presence of a person in the exhibit with mealtime. He’ll come to the surface and spit water at the aquarist’s feet as if to say “Hurry up! I’m hungry!”
Diet In the wild they use their powerful beak-like jaws to eat small fish, barnacles, snails, crabs, and clams. They have often been observed to swallow hermit crabs whole—shell and all.
Size These burrfish usually grow to 10 inches (25 cm) long, although there are occasional reports of specimens reaching 12 inches (32 cm).
Range They live in seagrass beds in bays and coastal lagoons and over shallow coastal reefs from Maine to Florida, although they are less common in the northern part of the range. Striped burrfish are abundant from the northern Gulf of Mexico to Brazil.
Population Status Striped burrfish are common through most of their range and are often encountered by SCUBA divers.
Predators Not many predators can get past the burrfish’s formidable spines when it puffs up to full size. This species is of no commercial value, although it is sometimes collected for the pet trade.