{{Short description|Species of fish}} {{Speciesbox | name = Northern puffer | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name=IUCN>{{Cite journal | author = Shao, K. | author2 = Liu, M. | author3 = Hardy, G. | author4 = Jing, L. | author5 = Leis, J.L. | author6 = Matsuura, K. | name-list-style = amp | title = ''Sphoeroides maculatus'' | journal = The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species | volume = 2014 | page = e.T190246A1945870 | publisher = IUCN | date = 2014 | url = http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/190246/0 | doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T190246A1945870.en | access-date = 15 January 2018| doi-access = free }}</ref> | image = Northern Puffer (Sphoeroides maculatus).jpg | taxon = Sphoeroides maculatus | authority = (Linnaeus, 1758) }}

The '''northern puffer''', '''''Sphoeroides maculatus''''', is a species in the family Tetraodontidae, or pufferfishes, found along the Atlantic coast of North America.<ref name=fishbase>{{FishBase | genus = Sphoeroides | species = maculatus | month = June | year = 2008}}</ref> Unlike many other pufferfish species, the flesh of the northern puffer is not poisonous, although its viscera can contain poison,<ref name=IUCN/><ref name=fishbase/> and high concentrations of toxins have been observed in the skin of Floridian populations.<ref name=sibunkapacheco>{{cite web|title=Biological and Fisheries Data on northern puffer, ''Sphoeroides maculates'' (Bloch and Schneider)|last1=Sibunka|first1=John D.|last2=Pacheco|first2=Anthony L.|date=February 1981|publisher=Sandy Hook Laboratory, Northeast Fisheries Center, National Marine Fisheries Service|location=Highlands, New Jersey|id=Technical Series Report No 26|url=https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/33313|access-date=29 July 2023|via=NOAA Institutional Repository}}</ref>{{rp|30}} They are commonly called '''sugar toads''' in the Chesapeake Bay region, where they are eaten as a delicacy.<ref name="mcclane">{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaoffi0000mccl | url-access=registration |others=Photographs by Arie de Zanger| title=The Encyclopedia of Fish Cookery | publisher=Holt, Rinehart and Winston | author=McClane, A.J. | year=1977 | pages=249 | isbn=9780030154317}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=July 2023}} There was widespread consumption of northern puffers during the rationing that accompanied the Second World War, establishing a commercial fishery that reached its zenith in the 1960s.<ref name=IUCN/><ref name=sibunkapacheco/>{{rp|36–39}} In much of the Northeast, the fish is known simply as "blowfish" or "chicken of the sea".<ref name=ChickenoftheSea>{{cite web|url=https://www.onthewater.com/chicken-sea|website=On the Water|title=Chicken of the Sea|last=Misak|first=Bob|date=17 June 2014|access-date=29 July 2023}}</ref> They may also be sold as "sea squab".<ref name=IUCN/><ref name=chesapeakebay>{{cite web|url=http://www.chesapeakebay.net/bfg_northern_puffer.aspx?menuitem=14403|website=Chesapeake Bay Program Bay Field Guide|title=Northern Puffer|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927073724/http://www.chesapeakebay.net/bfg_northern_puffer.aspx?menuitem=14403|archive-date=27 September 2011}}</ref>

==Description== left|thumb|Inflated The northern puffer has the shape of a club.<ref name=chesapeakebay/> Adults have small spines covering the entire body with a tiny beak-like mouth. It is characterized by vertical stripes with a gray to brown dorsal surface and a yellow to white belly.<ref name=chesapeakebay/> It has tiny jet-black pepper spots (about 1&nbsp;mm in diameter) scattered over most of pigmented surface, particularly evident on cheeks. Lower sides of the body have a row of black, elongate, bar-like markings. A small dorsal fin is set far back near the tail. ''Sphoeroides maculatus'', like others in the puffer family, "puffs up" into a ball in self-defense by inhaling water into a special chamber near its stomach. They will puff up with air if taken out of the water. The northern puffer reaches up to {{convert|36|cm|ftin|abbr=on|0}} in length, but is usually around {{convert|20|cm|in|abbr=on|0}}.<ref name=fishbase/>

==Habitat== The northern puffer inhabits bays, estuaries and protected coastal waters at depths of {{convert|10|-|183|m|ft|abbr=on}} in the northwest Atlantic.<ref name=fishbase/> It ranges from Florida (U.S.) to Newfoundland (Canada).<ref name=fishbase/>

==Diet== The northern puffer feeds primarily on shellfish, and occasionally on finfish. Using its beak-like mouth it can extract shellfish from their shells and sometimes break the shells to obtain a meal. They will attack blue crabs, blowing water underneath to turn the crab over, then attack the underside before it can right itself.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}}

==Life cycle== Northern puffers spawn from May through August in shallow water over sandy or muddy bottoms. The adhesive eggs are defended by the male until they hatch.<ref name=chesapeakebay/>

==References== {{Commons category|Sphoeroides maculatus}} {{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q3753267}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Northern Puffer}} Category:Tetraodontidae Category:Fish described in 1801