Distribution
Known in the Australian EEZ from Fremantle and offshore reefs of Western Australia, around the tropical north including reefs in the Coral Sea, to at least Wollongong, New South Wales; also at Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Islands in the eastern Indian Ocean, and the Lord Howe Province in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere the species is widespread in the tropical, Indo-west Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa, esst to Hawaii, the Tuamotos and the eastern Pacific. The species was recorded from the Mediterranean Sea in 2018.

Inhabits mixed coral, sandy, rubble, weedy and seagrass areas on coral and rocky reefs, and in coastal bays and estuaries. Small juveniles commonly occur in mangrove estuaries along the Queensland coast.
Features
Dorsal fin 10-11; Anal fin 10-11; Pectoral fin 17-19. 
Head and body covered in small spinules except around snout and rear of caudal peduncle; snout short, obtuse; each nostril with two fleshy solid tentacles.
Colour
 
Feeding
Feeds on fleshy, calcareous, or coralline algae, detritus, and a range of benthic invertebrates including molluscs, tunicates, sponges, corals, zoanthid anemones, crabs, tube worms and echinoderms (preys on the Crown-of-thorns Starfish). 
Etymology
The specific name is from the Latin hispidus (= rough, bristly), presumably in reference to bristly skin if this species.
Species Citation
Tetraodon hispidus Linnaeus, 1758, Systema Naturae 1: 333. Type locality: India.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Summary:
A variably coloured puffer, often pale grey to greenish-brown puffer, with a white belly, a white ring around the eye (may be absent in large fish), whitish lines on the belly (may be absent in large fish), usually a large dark spot  around the gill opening and pectoral-fin base (sometimes also with pale concentric rings)
Body with variable pattern, often pale grey with dark patches around eye and on snout, white bar across top of snout, and widely scattered black spots. Sometimes with variable amount of yellow on head and body.