Puffer fish IMO are one of the smartest fish out there. I had a Porcupine puffer for close to a decade and it was more like a dog than a fish. It loved to come to the surface and have its chin rubbed and back stroked. Super friendly fish. It also had a similar trait that Triggers have, if you teased it with food above the water it would suck in water and spit it right in your face, amazing aim.

I like how he is using a glock to do that haha.

You should see our 30″ eel chase a laser around his tank.  :-)  Really should take more videos of this guy.  

Yep, there are good gun owners and bad gun owners. FYI there are more good ones than bad ones. It’s the 0.05% who are “gangsters” who screw it up for all of us.

Or it’s the fact that the guy is pointing a gun at him and he is being forced to.

i agree that the laser in the eye was not ideal, but that’s probably non intentional. the aim of this post was to highlight the fun and light side of fish-human interaction. sorry you felt offended by that. 

Christine, you really need to get your facts straight.

1.  It is *incredibly* difficult to damage the eye with a standard laser pointer – I am going to school to work as an eye doctor.  I don’t know anything about fish eyes though
2.  Gun ownership=criminal? Uh uh.  For example, in Kennesaw, Georgia gun ownership is *mandatory* and the crime rate plummeted.  Research, much?
3.  You are American too if you live in Canada – it’s part of North America.  Hopefully you meant US American.
4.  Don’t generalize Canada – I live here too (have lived in the USA though) and plenty of people own guns.

The pufferfish seems to be in a proper environment.  There is a video on youtube of a mantis shrimp playing with a laser and they have very sensitive eyes yet no one seems to object to that. I don’t own a gun myself, but I don’t go running my mouth at people who do because I don’t know them. My aunt owns a gun because her husband was killed by burglars – is she a criminal?

Seems to me its only a simple feeding response.  ALL of the fish in the tank are chasing the light.  Puffers “may” be smarter than other fish, but this video only shows that the puffer reacts the same as the little minnows in the tank with it.

First, it looks like a airsoft gun (BB’s)

But also the fact that fish chase laser pointers is nothing new

Linny, I think you need to get your facts straight.  

It’s *incredible* difficult to damage the eye with a “standard” laser pointer only applies to humans eyes.   Primarily because humans can blink, in as little as a quarter second with your std red laser pointer you can cause damage to the human eye however your blink reflex often is faster than that so you can escape damage.  

So that begs the question, how long does it take a fish to blink?  Assuming the anatomy of a fish’s eye is the same as a human.

Now granted I’m not sure the power output on a gun’s laser pointer, but assuming it’s a std class 3a laser (<5mW) there wasn't enough time to damage a human's eye in the video… but don't go around saying it's difficult to damage your eye, if you tried and forced yourself from blinking you could be the one needing an eye doctor.

1.  Again, I am training to become an eye doctor and have heard this many times (“OH! I’m going to go blind working at the checkout because the laser scanner will hit my eyes and I’ll be blinded forever!”). Most animals (and humans) have reflexes to look away – but even so, it’s still not easy to damage with.  Granted it’s possible – but I highly doubt the fish will go blind or have its eyesight damaged (esp. when the owner isn’t pointing it directly into the eye).  By the way, fish eyes (unlike those of humans) keep growing, laying down new retina as the fish gets older.

2.  The implication was that you are either a cop or a gangster – a criminal. My aunt is neither and I found the implication to be very offensive.

3.  *facepalm* Again, saying “American” refers to anyone from North or South America.  You were using incorrect terminology – that’s all.

4.  First of all, you mean *they’re.  Next off, I know plenty of people who own guns – our experiences obviously differ.

You can run your mouth if you choose, but I can call you judgemental and misinformed if *I* choose – sorry if that’s not what you wanted to hear, hunny.  Thanks for wishing me good luck though!

1. Cool, didn’t know that.

2. I wasn’t trying to be “pro” or “con” in the debate, was simply pointing out the laser used in the video is more likely a stronger laser than most people use so risk of eye damage from incidental contact is much greater. I am guilty of using a keychain laser to play with my fish in the past, but my fish didn’t seem to really pay much attention to it. As long as a person is careful and uses a low powered laser I see no issue for people to use them like they do with their cats and dogs.

3. I have never seen the sun melt a hole through a 12″ piece of steel, seen it done with lasers plenty of times. Your analogy is flawed. Completely different types of light sources coming from different angles. This video appears to use a laser that is probably at a minimum 2x as strong since it is a gun targeting laser. A little stronger than a “measly laser pointer”.

My Red headed Goby chases the laser pointer as well. I tried it on other fish and only 1 mandarin responded for a short period.