Porcupinefish belong to the family Diodontidae which means 'two teeth'. This characteristic distinguishes porcupinefish from puffers and blowfish which have a different dentition altogether.

Like pufferfish, porcupinefish have a defence mechanism which enable them to imbibe huge amounts of water and increase their size enormously. In this distended condition the spines that normally lie flat aganist the body stand out at an angle and the porcupinefish looks rather like a spiky ball with the face of a pekinese dog.

If alarmed, a partly inflated porcupinefish may rise to surface and inadvertently in air instead of water. Under these circumstances, it may become impossible for them to later release the air and they risk floating around on the surface until they perish.

"Freckled Porcupinefish flesh and liver is 500 times as toxic as cyanide. It is apparently the vital ingredient in the 'coup poudre' used by Haitian voodoo believers to kill or reduce their enemies to zombies"