Spot-fin Pufferfish

Carinotetraodon salivator is a rare dwarf pufferfish from Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, where it inhabits slow-moving blackwater streams and peat swamp margins. It is distinguished from C. irrubesco and C. borneensis by a distinctive spotted dorsal fin. Like all members of its genus, it is exclusively freshwater and requires soft, acidic conditions.

As a dwarf puffer, C. salivator is small (around 4 cm) but intensely active and curious. It has the typical puffer intelligence and personality, investigating everything in its tank and interacting with its keeper. Males can be moderately aggressive toward each other and toward females outside breeding periods.

This species requires a diet of live or frozen hard-shelled invertebrates — snails, bloodworm, and small crustaceans — to wear down its continuously growing fused beak. It should not be kept with slow or delicate fish that may be nipped.

Water: 23-28°C, pH 4.5-6.5, very soft (GH 0–5) — blackwater conditions with tannins. Tank: 40 L species tank with live snails, plenty of cover, and leaf litter substrate. Feeding: live snails, frozen bloodworm, daphnia, and small crustaceans — avoid tubifex. Breeding: cave spawner; male guards eggs; achievable with a well-conditioned pair. Compatibility: species-only; will nip fins of any fish kept with it.