Masked pufferfish
Arothron diadematus
Sighting evidence at Shaab Sharm, Fury Shoals
The masked pufferfish is a Red Sea endemic whose bold black mask and polka-dot pattern make it immediately recognisable grazing on algae and invertebrates across Shaab Sharm's rubble zones. When threatened it inflates its elastic stomach with water to become a near-spherical ball, making ingestion by a predator geometrically difficult. Their beak-like fused teeth are strong enough to bite through hard coral, and they leave characteristic semi-circular bite marks that are visible across the reef as evidence of their feeding activity.
Evidence at this site
No confirmed records on file at this site
Masked pufferfish is listed as a curated species here based on historical reports.