Hawaiian Whitespotted Toby

The Hawaiian whitespotted toby is a small Canthigaster species found only in the Hawaiian Islands. Its chocolate-brown body is covered with dense, small white spots; the blue lines seen in the similar-looking Solandri toby are absent in this species. In the wild it feeds on a wide variety of foods on lagoon and outer reefs, such as sponges, algae, worms, small crabs, shrimp and sea urchins. Because commercial aquarium collection in Hawaii has long been restricted by court and permit processes, it is rarely found on the market. Toxin note: Its skin and internal organs contain tetrodotoxin; it must not be eaten.

• At least 120 liters; plenty of hiding places and rock crevices to sleep in.
• Salinity specific gravity 1.023–1.026, pH 8.1–8.4, temperature 24–27°C.
• It is sensitive to copper treatment; be careful in quarantine.
• Reef-safe with caution, on the risky side: It eats small shrimp, hermit crabs, snails and tube worms; it nips some corals.

Omnivorous. Frozen mysis, chopped mussels and shrimp, small snails in their shells and seaweed; offer shelled food a few times a week to wear down its teeth.

Curious and active; it may bite the fins of slow, long-finned fish. It may fight with individuals of its own species.

Good companions: Damsels, clownfish, tangs, wrasses, dwarf angelfish.

Avoid: Seahorses, pipefish, mandarinfish, ornamental shrimp, snails, a second pufferfish.