Shore Buddies Wisdom Wednesday 11/04/2020
Black-blotched Porcupinefish can be found singly hiding during the day in caves and under ledges and in coral plates along reef edges and slopes. They feed nocturnally on crustaceans and molluscs. Porcupinefish has spines on the head and body that lay flat, but when threatened they can inflates its body by swallowing water, inflating like a "football with spikes" so the spines are facing outwards to deter prey. The have a plated mouth structure for crushing shells. When creating a home, come Porcupinefish will grab pieces of coral in their mouth and spit the pieces out in the desired location, either hollowing out an area or building “walls”.
https://www.whatsthatfish.com/fish/blackblotched-porcupinefish/39#leaf
https://www.notroublesjustbubbles.com/marine-life/black-blotched-porcupinefish