Fine Spotted Porcupine fish usually has its spikes folded inside but when in danger, it blows up its body by sucking in water into their stomachs and sticks its spikes out to protect themselves. They rarely do so in the tank.

Although they are called “Harisenbon” (thousand spikes) in Japanese, they only have about 350 spikes. They live in temperate/tropic waters. In Japan, they are spotted in coral reefs, sandy areas, and seashores south of Aomori.

Originally they are from the tropics. When they get caught in the Tsushima Current and get carried to the north, numerous of them arrive along the coast of the Sea of Japan and die. In the past, a vast amount of them got caught in the fixed nets around Kagoshima and caused damage to the fishery industry.