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Long-Spine Porcupine Fish

Long-Spine Porcupine Fish line art illustration (click image to enlarge)

Long-Spine Porcupine Fish illustration (click image to enlarge)

Artist's notes:

The Long-Spine Porcupine Fish was completed on 9.28.2011. I have seen these charming fish on occasion while diving in Hawaii. I was unsure which mode to render them: fully deflated or fully inflated. In the end, I went with half-way between the two. This fish was challenging, but overall a lot of fun to draw. The only real problem was finding the correct species to render. I went with Diodon holocanthus because they're one of the most widespread of the species. The drawing is based on a photo by Dan Hershman and done at the request of my fiancée Katherine.

Information about the Long-Spine Porcupine Fish:

The Long-Spine or Long-Spined Porcupine Fish (also called the Spiny Balloonfish) is found in much of the world's oceans. They generally inhabit muddy sea bottoms, lagoons and coral reefs. The fish is well-known for it's strange ability to make itself very large by swallowing air and water when threatened. It does this to make itself very unappealing to predators because of the massive spines that stick out when inflated (they lay back on the fish normally.) The spines of the porcupine fish are larger than the pufferfish (which it is sometimes confused with.) The Long-Spined Pufferfish is used in Chinese medicine, even though it can be very poisonous if not prepared correctly.