Smooth Puffer, Lagocephalus laevigatus

Smooth Puffer, Lagocephalus laevigatus. Fish caught from coastal waters off Sebastian, Florida, June 2021. Length: 61 cm (2 feet 0 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, Sebastian, Florida.

The Smooth Puffer, Lagocephalus laevigatus, is a member of the Puffer or Tetraodontidae Family, that is known in Mexico as botete grande. Globally, there are ten species in the genus Lagocephalus, of which two are found in Mexican waters, this species from the Atlantic and one that resides in both the Atlantic and Pacific.

The Smooth Puffer has an elongated inflatable body. Their head and upper body are gray or gray-green dorsally that transitions to silvery on the sides and to white ventrally with uniformly colored fins. The juveniles and sub-adults have three or four dark saddles on the upper back. Their head has a long beak-like snout with a small projecting mouth equipped with four fused teeth with eyes set high on the sides. Their pointed anal fin has 13 to 15 rays and is directly below the dorsal fin; their caudal peduncle is slender; their caudal fin is concave and symmetrical with lobes of equal length; their single dorsal fin has 12 or 13 rays and has a short base and is found at the rear; their pectoral fins have 17 or 18 rays; and, they do not have pelvic fins. They are covered with thick skin that is smooth to the touch except for small spines on the belly. They do not have scales.

The Smooth Puffer is found as a solitary individual or in small groups inshore and near shore from the surface in both brackish and marine environments to depths up to 180 m (3,300 feet) over sand and mud substrate. The adults are pelagic and the juveniles are found on coastal and offshore banks. They reach a maximum of 1.00 m (3 feet 3 inches) in length and 4.9 kg (10 pounds 14 oz). They consume fish and shrimp. Reproduction is oviparous. The Smooth Puffer is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.

The Smooth Puffer is a a wide ranging species found in all global tropical and subtropical waters. In Mexican waters they are found in the Atlantic Ocean including the Gulf of Mexico and the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean.

The Smooth Puffer can easily be confused with the Oceanic Puffer, Lagocephalus lagocephalus (belly with spotting; caudal fin with a longer lower lobe; bicolored pectoral fins, dark above and white below; juveniles with 9 bars).

From a conservation perspective the Smooth Puffer is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are caught primarily by deep water trawls and utilized on a very limited basis for human food by some cultures. Note: Like many Puffers, the Smooth Puffer is reputed to be highly poisonous, even fatal, if eaten, due to the potential presence of potent neurotoxins saxitoxin and/or tetrodotoxin, which is found in their skin, viscera, and gonads and is believed to protect them from predation by larger fish. Human consumption is not recommended.