Puff the Magic Swimmer

A clever little globefish at Melbourne Zoo is wowing visitors and keepers after learning how to swim onto a platform for health checks.  

The 12-year-old globefish – often called pufferfish due to their ability to expand with water – is able to confidently swim up to keepers and allow them to check his scales, eyes and fins without leaving his habitat.  

Wild Sea Keeper Sakura Parker-Iida said the inquisitive fish became comfortable enough to swim up to keepers with just over a month of training.  

"We initially started the training as we noticed he had some discolouration on his scales and we wanted to take a skin scrape without the process of removing him from his environment," Ms Parker-Iida said.  

"In a month he learnt how to swim close to a keeper, who was holding a floating hoop, and in under two weeks he mastered swimming on to the platform which is an incredible achievement." 

The little fish is rewarded with a piece of prawn which is his favourite treat, and now enthusiastically participates in the training.  

"It's important to maintain this behaviour as the next time he needs a vet check or we need to check his swimming ability, he's able to voluntarily participate in his own healthcare with no stress involved," Ms Parker-Iida said.  

"As a species globefish are incredibly curious and intelligent, so this training is also mentally stimulating for him." 

Globefish are part of the pufferfish family which also includes blowfish, bubblefish and balloonfish. When threatened, globefish puff their bodies up with water which causes the sharp spines on their body to stand upright. globefish are commonly found in reefs and reedy areas such as jetties and piers across the southern half of Australia.  

Visitors can see the globefish training in action at Melbourne Zoo's Wild Sea.