Porcupinefish

Although we are pretty unlikely to get to see a Porcupinefish while snorkeling, I just can’t resist adding this striking fish to the fish coloring book. Their enormous eyes, wide mouth, and large extended lips give them the appearance of a half smile as though they’re just about to share a good joke and (in my opinion) make them pretty irresistibly adorable.

You can read about this project in the post “A Fish Journal for a six-year-old” and you can see all the posts for this project using the tag “Fish Coloring Book“.

Porcupinefish mostly live alone near reefs, caves or ledges and like to hunt for crustaceans and mollusks at night. Because they are mostly active at night and very shy, you’ll have to be very patient and lucky to get to see one.
Porcupinefish get their name from the spines covering their bodies but these spines lay flat most of the time. If a porcupine fish is frightened or bothered, it can swallow lots of water in order to inflate like a spiky balloon to become two or three times bigger. This makes it almost impossible for predators to eat them.