Arrowhead puffer
A flattened brown puffer with an upturned snout and a pale arrowhead marking on the head. It buries itself in sand and waits, and the strike is fast enough that keepers rarely see it happen.
Quick profile
- Scientific name
- Pao suvattii
- Adult size
- 10–15 cm (3.9–5.9 in)
- Lifespan
- 8–10 years
- Temperature
- 24–28 °C (75–82 °F)
- pH
- 6.5–7.5
- Hardness
- 5–15 °dGH
- Minimum tank
- 100 L (26 US gal)
- Minimum length
- 80 cm
- Swimming zone
- Bottom
- Social
- Solitary
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Overall confidence
- moderate confidence
What keeping this species involves
Simple to feed and impossible to house with anything. It also needs a genuinely deep sand bed, which rules out most stocked tanks.
Sandy river beds in slow reaches, where it lies buried with only the eyes showing.
Identity and names
- Common name
- Arrowhead puffer
- Scientific name
- Pao suvattii
- Family
- Tetraodontidae
- Order
- Tetraodontiformes
- Class
- Actinopterygii
- Also sold as
- Pao suvattii, Tetraodon suvattii, pignose puffer, Mekong puffer
Adult size and growth
10–15 cm (3.9–5.9 in)
Typical lifespan in an aquarium: 8–10 years. Almost every animal sold in a shop is a juvenile, so the tank has to suit the size in the first line rather than the size in the bag.
Water and tank requirements
A sedentary ambush fish needs a wide sand bed rather than swimming length, and enough of it that a second animal is out of range.
Why these ranges: Mekong mainstem water is near-neutral and moderately soft. That is measurably different from the Nile band on the fahaka above and from the peat-swamp band on the humpback, which is why these three puffers do not share a set of numbers.
| Requirement | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature | 24–28 °C (75–82 °F) | Stability matters more than hitting an exact figure. |
| pH | 6.5–7.5 | A stable pH outside the ideal band is usually better than an unstable one inside it. |
| General hardness | 5–15 °dGH | Check your supplier's published figure before choosing species. |
| Minimum volume | 100 L (26 US gal) | A floor, not a recommendation. |
| Minimum footprint | 80 cm long | A sedentary ambush fish needs a wide sand bed rather than swimming length, and enough of it that a second animal is out of range. |
| Water flow | low | Match the outflow to this rather than to the filter's rating. |
| Lid required | Yes | This species jumps. |
| Structure | A deep fine sand bed it can bury in completely, with a few pieces of wood. Anything else is unused. |
Behaviour
- Buries itself by shuffling sideways into the sand until only the eyes are exposed.
- Strikes upward at anything of the right size that passes above, including fish considerably larger than its mouth.
Feeding
Takes prey passing overhead in a vertical lunge from the sand. It will not chase and will not compete.
- Diet type
- Carnivore
- Staples
- Snails, River shrimp, Frozen mussel, Earthworm, Whole cockle
Breeding
- Strategy
- Eggs laid on a cleared patch of substrate and guarded by the male
- Difficulty
- challenging
- Parental care
- guarding
Tankmates and compatibility
Assessments are derived from stored traits by the compatibility engine, with the reasoning shown. A verdict is a statement about probability, not a guarantee — individual temperament can override it.
| Towards | Risk | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Small fish | near-certain | Anything that fits in the mouth is at risk once this species reaches adult size. |
| Adult dwarf shrimp | near-certain | Cover reduces losses but rarely prevents them where the risk is high. |
| Shrimplets | near-certain | Determines whether a shrimp colony can grow rather than merely persist. |
| Snails | near-certain | Applies to snails you wanted as well as snails you did not. |
| Long or trailing fins | none | Fin damage is an entry point for secondary infection. |
| Plants | uproots | Tough species such as Anubias and Java fern survive most grazers. |
Any pair in the catalogue can be assessed with the compatibility checker.
Welfare considerations
Points where the way this species is commonly sold or kept differs from what it actually needs.
- Without deep soft sand it cannot perform its main behaviour and remains visibly unsettled.
- Aggression towards conspecifics is not moderated by tank size at any scale a keeper is likely to provide.
Problems to watch for
Most problems in a tank containing this species are general rather than species-specific. Start with the troubleshooting index and work from the observation rather than from a guess at the cause.
What AquariumHQ does not yet hold
Species-level disease susceptibility is modelled in the graph and is not yet populated. Health pages will not be published until each condition has veterinary sourcing, because health content written without evidence is the most harmful thing this product could publish. The gap is recorded in the coverage report.
Where it comes from
- Native range
- The Mekong and Chao Phraya basins of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia
- Habitat
- Sandy river beds in slow reaches, where it lies buried with only the eyes showing.
What the checklists say
1 distribution statement retrieved from GBIF checklists. Establishment means is reproduced from the source where it states one, and left unstated where it does not — a record of presence is not a record of origin.
| Status | Places | What this means |
|---|---|---|
| Recorded as present, establishment means not stated | 1 | The source records the species as present and does not say whether it is native or introduced. AquariumHQ does not fill that in. |
No checklist AquariumHQ holds positively calls this species native anywhere, so the native range above rests on AquariumHQ’s own reading of the literature rather than on a cited checklist.
Evidence
Every stored value with the kind of support behind it and where to check it. Evidence type and confidence are separate axes: an editorial position held confidently and a measurement held tentatively are different things.
| Claim | Value | Evidence type | Confidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| scientific name | Pao suvattii | Observed / measured | high confidence | Catalogue of Life; GBIF — Global Biodiversity Information Facility |
| native range | The Mekong and Chao Phraya basins of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia | Observed / measured | moderate confidence | GBIF — Global Biodiversity Information Facility |
| adult size | 10–15 cm | Aquarium-literature consensus | moderate confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
| lifespan | 8–10 years | Aquarium-literature consensus | moderate confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
| temperature | 24–28 °C | Aquarium-literature consensus | moderate confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
| ph | 6.5–7.5 pH | Aquarium-literature consensus | moderate confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
| general hardness | 5–15 °dGH | Aquarium-literature consensus | moderate confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
| minimum tank volume | ≥ 100 L | AquariumHQ editorial position | moderate confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
| minimum tank length | ≥ 80 cm | AquariumHQ editorial position | moderate confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
Last reviewed 2026-08-10. Values labelled as an aquarium-literature consensus are AquariumHQ editorial positions rather than measurements — see how evidence is handled.
Why we say this
What each figure on this page rests on, and how far that is from being independently established.
Every figure on this page has a provenance. Open any claim to see what AquariumHQ holds for it, which sources say what, and what a claim of that kind actually needs. Different claims need different evidence: an accepted scientific name is settled by one authority, while a legal restriction needs a current primary instrument. A single source is often the right answer rather than a thin one.
scientific nameAquariumHQ's own position, externally checkableBased on a verified authoritative source.
AquariumHQ's own position on a claim an external source could support.
What this kind of claim needs: accepted scientific name and classification — 1 authoritative source in an appropriate context. Checked against gbif on 2026-08-13. One authoritative backbone is what this class requires.
What would improve this: Go and read a source. This is reachable and has not been reached.
native rangeAquariumHQ's own position, externally checkableLimited evidence — treat with caution.
AquariumHQ's own position on a claim an external source could support.
What this kind of claim needs: where the species occurs — 1 authoritative source in an appropriate context. 1 distribution statements held, and not one of them states an establishment means. Presence without native-or-introduced is not a native-range claim, so this stays below requirement rather than being read as one.
What would improve this: Go and read a source. This is reachable and has not been reached.
adult sizeAquariumHQ's own position, externally checkableAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
AquariumHQ's own position on a claim an external source could support.
What this kind of claim needs: size a well-kept specimen reaches — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No external source is required for this class. AquariumHQ's position stands on its stated reasoning.
What would improve this: Go and read a source. This is reachable and has not been reached.
lifespanAquariumHQ's own position, externally checkableAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
AquariumHQ's own position on a claim an external source could support.
What this kind of claim needs: what aquariumhq advises for keeping — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No external source is required for this class. AquariumHQ's position stands on its stated reasoning.
What would improve this: Go and read a source. This is reachable and has not been reached.
temperatureAquariumHQ's own position, externally checkableAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
AquariumHQ's own position on a claim an external source could support.
What this kind of claim needs: what aquariumhq advises for keeping — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No external source is required for this class. AquariumHQ's position stands on its stated reasoning.
What would improve this: Go and read a source. This is reachable and has not been reached.
phAquariumHQ's own position, externally checkableAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
AquariumHQ's own position on a claim an external source could support.
What this kind of claim needs: what aquariumhq advises for keeping — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No external source is required for this class. AquariumHQ's position stands on its stated reasoning.
What would improve this: Go and read a source. This is reachable and has not been reached.
general hardnessAquariumHQ's own position, externally checkableAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
AquariumHQ's own position on a claim an external source could support.
What this kind of claim needs: what aquariumhq advises for keeping — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No external source is required for this class. AquariumHQ's position stands on its stated reasoning.
What would improve this: Go and read a source. This is reachable and has not been reached.
minimum tank volumeAquariumHQ's judgement — no authority publishes thisAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
No external authority publishes this. The rationale carries the reasoning.
What this kind of claim needs: minimum tank size — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No authority publishes this. AquariumHQ derives it, and the derivation is recorded with its inputs and assumptions.
What would improve this: Keep the rationale current. There is no source to find.
minimum tank lengthAquariumHQ's judgement — no authority publishes thisAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
No external authority publishes this. The rationale carries the reasoning.
What this kind of claim needs: minimum tank size — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No authority publishes this. AquariumHQ derives it, and the derivation is recorded with its inputs and assumptions.
What would improve this: Keep the rationale current. There is no source to find.
Group size and social behaviour
Extremely aggressive to its own kind. Two in a tank ends with one, usually quickly.