Porcupine puffer lifespan?

[grostanzo]

I am trying to find out for a friend of mine how long a Porcupine puffer lives in captivity and in the wild. He has a GF that is doing a paper on this animal and can not come up with any info on their lifespan.

Anyone have any ideas?

[intranet]

I could be wrong but I dont think there is a defined life span for this fish. I do remember seeing 2 years in an aquarium , but I don't remember the source ( I just remember thinking, if my porc is only going to live two years, he certainly isn't very big ).

Mine is about a year old or so now and still isn't fully grown , at least I dont think he is, he is about 5-6".

[grostanzo]

Thanks for the info!

Anyone else?

[EdKruzel]

In an appropriate aquarium with a nutritious diet a puffer (or most marine fishes) should live 20+ years.
I have several friends in the hobby that keep a varied group of puffers which range from 8yrs to about 15-16yrs.

In the wild they have to contend with predators and other survival obstacles, so the average may be quite a bit lower.

You can contact Kelly Jedlicki (the Puffer Queen) over at LMAS for her information on puffers.
http://www.lmas.org/tank_tours/kelly_jedlicki.htm

Good Luck,
Ed

[waterlily]

Really? Most marine fish can live up to 20 years? Just wondering because I've had my royal gramma and ocellaris clown for 3 years now. I also had a sharpnosed puffer for three years, but took it back to the fish store so I could get some inverts.

[Zepplin]

We've had our Hoss for about 4 years now, and I think he was atleast a year or two when we got him. Its so sad what happens to the majority of them in captivity.

-Meg

[Paul B]

I had a tetrodon puffer twelve years but I would guess porcs would live much longer. They are very common in the wild and I have seen many over 18" long. I am sure they would live over 25 years. I now have a brootlid fish over 16 years old and I have never directly fed it. (It is kind of a bright yellow eel looking fish about 5" long that hides all the time)