Sphoeroides spengleri
(Bloch, 1785) · speciesAt a glance
Sources11 archives
Databases and archives Sphoeroides spengleri's data was compiled from.
WikipediaWikimedia Foundation5 languages↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility5 296 records↗
OBISOcean Biodiversity Information System4 622 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI90 eDNA detections↗
BOLD SystemsCentre for Biodiversity Genomics64 specimens↗
Open Tree of LifeOpenTreephylogeny backbone↗
GoaTGenomes on a Tree · Sangergenome ~0.33 Gbp↗
WikidataWikimedia Foundationstructured facts↗
Catalogue of LifeCOLtaxonomy↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗Every layer below draws on the sources above — open one to explore it, or use ← → to move between tabs.
Bandtail puffer (Sphoeroides spengleri) The bandtail puffer (Sphoeroides spengleri) is a species in the family Tetraodontidae, or pufferfishes.An anonymous review of volume I of Lacépède's Histoire naturelle des poissons (in the Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung, 1798, columns 673–680) was apparently the first publication to Latinize several of Lacépède's genera; in this case Lacépède's name was Sphéroïdes. It can grow to a length of about 30 cm and is common in the Caribbean and observed from Massachusetts, USA in the north to Santa Catarina, Brazil in the south.
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
Size & morphology1
Habitat & environment3
Uses & economy1
Other traits3
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Sphoeroides spengleri has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
★ the standard DNA barcode for this group — the short region actually read to tell this species apart. The rest are extra genes sequenced along the way.
The complete instruction manual Sphoeroides spengleri carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
How far back this lineage goes — and how we know. Everything here is measured in Ma, short for “mega-annum”: millions of years ago. The chart reads left to right like a calendar of the Earth, from the deep past on the left to today at the right edgetop to bottom like a core drilled through the Earth, from the deep past at the top down to today at the bottom.
At a glance
When this lineage existed
How to read this: the coloured strip along the bottomdown the left is the geological calendar — the standard epochs (Pliocene, Pleistocene…) every museum uses, shown so you can see which chapter of Earth's history this lineage lived in. This lineage is a young one, so the strip is zoomed in to epochs — the finer subdivisions inside a period. The orange marker is the DNA clock: DNA accumulates mutations at a roughly steady rate, so comparing this species' DNA with its relatives estimates when the lineage split off — independently of any fossil.
Record type9 918 records
Origin
Range
Depth
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Holding institutions23 of 64 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
| Institution | Specimens |
|---|---|
| Florida Museum of Natural History- Zoology, Paleontology & Paleobotanylocation not on record | 388 |
| Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collectionlocation not on record | 182 |
| Washington, US | 96 |
| Chicago, US | 64 |
| University of Texas Biodiversity Collections (UTBC)location not on record | 56 |
| CASlocation not on record | 38 |
| Cambridge, US | 32 |
| Tapachula, MX | 29 |
| Ann Arbor, US | 26 |
| FishBaselocation not on record | 24 |
| New Haven, US | 16 |
| USP-RPlocation not on record | 13 |
| Los Angeles, US | 12 |
| Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados, Unidad Irapuato, Instituto Politécnico Nacionallocation not on record | 12 |
| Toronto, CA | 12 |
| UFESlocation not on record | 12 |
| Paris, FR | 11 |
| Texas Memorial Museum, Texas Natural History Collectionlocation not on record | 11 |
| Musee Royal d'Histoire Naturelle de Belgiquelocation not on record | 9 |
| UNICAMPlocation not on record | 8 |
| Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de Sao Paulolocation not on record | 8 |
| Copenhagen, DK | 8 |
| Stockholm, SE | 7 |
| University of California San Diegolocation not on record | 7 |
| Morelia, MX | 7 |
| Frankfurt am Main | 7 |
| Zoologisches Museum Hamburglocation not on record | 6 |
| Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciêncialocation not on record | 6 |
| North Carolina Museum of Natural Scienceslocation not on record | 6 |
| Universidad del Valle (UniValle)location not on record | 5 |
| Mexico City, MX | 5 |
| Museo civico La Terra e l'Uomo di Crocetta del Montellolocation not on record | 5 |
| IEO-COMA-CSIClocation not on record | 5 |
| University of Alabamalocation not on record | 5 |
| South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversitylocation not on record | 5 |
| Louisiana State University, Museum of Zoologylocation not on record | 5 |
| INMAlocation not on record | 4 |
| University of Minnesota, James Ford Bell Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record | 4 |
| Research Collection of Benjamin Victorlocation not on record | 4 |
| Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Veracruzana, Región Poza Rica-Tuxpanlocation not on record | 3 |
| 3 | |
| Bergen, NO | 3 |
| Mexico City, MX | 3 |
| Museu Nacional/Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeirolocation not on record | 3 |
| Wuzhou, CN | 2 |
| South Kensington, GB | 2 |
| UFRRJlocation not on record | 2 |
| Central Michigan University Museum of Cultural and Natural Historylocation not on record | 2 |
| University of Nebraskalocation not on record | 2 |
| SNSB-Zoologische Staatssammlung Münchenlocation not on record | 2 |
| Royal Museum for Central Africalocation not on record | 1 |
| Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural Historylocation not on record | 1 |
| University of Alberta Museumslocation not on record | 1 |
| IEOlocation not on record | 1 |
| Montgomery, US | 1 |
| ISUAlocation not on record | 1 |
| ICM-CSIClocation not on record | 1 |
| Natural History Museum Rotterdamlocation not on record | 1 |
| Geneva, CH | 1 |
| Champaign, US | 1 |
| Vancouver, CA | 1 |
| El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Unidad Chetumallocation not on record | 1 |
| Universidad Tecnológica del Chocó (UTCH)location not on record | 1 |
| ASUlocation not on record | 1 |
Where the DNA of Sphoeroides spengleri was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Where its DNA was found
How strong is each trace?
Modelled climatemodelled
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.