No photo available
Silver-cheeked toadfish
Lagocephalus sceleratus
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Silver-cheeked toadfish
- Scientific
- Lagocephalus sceleratus
- Dhivehi
- ގިއުޅު ކޮލިGiulhu koli
- Group
- Reef fish
- Maximum size
- Up to about 1.1 m (total length); commonly 40 cm; max. published weight 9 kg (FishBase); MRS 1997 gives max. 85 cm
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 18 to 100 m
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2011
Description
A large, streamlined pufferfish, greenish with dark spots above and white below, with a broad silver band along the side and a silver blotch in front of the eye. It lives over sand on offshore reefs. It contains potent tetrodotoxin and is dangerous to eat.
In the Maldives
Dhivehi name giulhu koli (MRS 1997). MRS notes it is not common in the Maldives.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Lagocephalus-sceleratus.html
- fao.org /4/AD471E/AD471E00.htm
- dv.wikipedia.org /wiki/ގިއުޅު_ކޮލި
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Silver_puffer_(Lagocephalus_sceleratus)_(48272090586).jpg
Dhivehi name source: M.R.S. (1997) Fishes of the Maldives (FAO/BOBP MAG/21) gives 'Giulhu koli' (Latin form). Thaana from the Dhivehi Wikipedia article 'ގިއުޅު ކޮލި' (derived from the MRS 1997 Dhivehi edition); it matches the Latin form.