Porcupinefishes (Diodon)

General data
- Main name: Porcupinefishes
Classification
- Family: Diodontidae - Porcupinefish
- Order: Tetraodontiformes - Puffers and filefishes
- Class: Teleostei - Ray-finned fishes
- Superclass: Osteichthyes - Bony fishes
Description
Porcupinefishes or balloonfishes, are any of the various species of the genus Diodon, the type genus of Diodontidae. Fish of the genus Diodon have:
- two-rooted, movable spines (which are derived from modified scales) distributed over their bodies.
- beak-like jaws, used to crush their hard-shelled prey (crustaceans and molluscs).