Fish
Smooth Blaasop
Lagocephalus inermis
A large, smooth-skinned pufferfish with a silvery belly, able to inflate itself and highly toxic to eat.
Also known as smooth puffer, smooth-backed blaasop, toby
- Typical size
- Commonly 30-60 cm
- Habitat
- Sandy bottoms and reef margins
- Depth
- Shallows to about 100 m
The smooth blaasop is one of the larger pufferfish in South African waters, with a rounded, tapering body, a dark grey-green back and a bright silvery belly, and skin that is mostly smooth rather than spiny. When threatened it gulps water to swell into a rigid ball, a defence common to all blaasops.
It occurs over sandy and reef areas along the KZN and Eastern Cape coast and is often caught as bycatch by anglers. Crucially, its flesh and organs contain powerful tetrodotoxin and it must never be eaten; handle with care and release it. Its strong fused beak can crush shells and can give a nasty nip.