Torafugu

Torafugu (Takifugu rubripes) is a large tetraodontid of the northwest Pacific, from Hokkaido and Korea to the Yellow, Bohai, East China and northern South China seas. Demersal between about 10 and 135 m, adults typically measure 30–50 cm and 1–3 kg, with a black blotch behind the pectoral fin. Fused jaw plates let it crush shrimps, crabs and molluscs. Its liver and ovaries contain tetrodotoxin, and its compact genome of some 390 million base pairs was sequenced in 2002. The IUCN assessed it as Near Threatened in 2014, and the species supports major aquaculture in Japan and China.