bullseye puffer
Sphoeroides annulatus (Jenyns, 1842)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Bullseye puffer (Sphoeroides annulatus), Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
D. Gordon E. Robertson · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
Sphoeroides annulatus, commonly known as the bullseye puffer, is a species of fish in the family Tetraodontidae, or pufferfishes. It is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean from California, USA to Pisco, Peru and the Galápagos Islands.
Wikipedia contributors, Sphoeroides annulatus; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:56:21.309747+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Sphoeroides annulatus (Jenyns, 1842)
- Name authority
- (Jenyns, 1842)
- Common name
- bullseye puffer
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Tetraodontiformes
- Family
- Tetraodontidae
- Genus
- Sphoeroides
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderTetraodontiformes
- suborderTetraodontoidei
- familyTetraodontidae Bonaparte, 1831
- genusSphoeroides Anonymous [Lacepède], 1798
- speciesSphoeroides annulatus (Jenyns, 1842)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Sphoeroides. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Sphoeroides andersonianus Morrow, 1957 | TetraodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Sphoeroides greeleyi Gilbert, 1900 | TetraodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Sphoeroides kendalli Meek & Hildebrand, 1928 | TetraodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| naked pufferSphoeroides lispus Walker, 1996 | TetraodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| longnose pufferSphoeroides lobatus (Steindachner, 1870) | TetraodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| blunthead pufferSphoeroides pachygaster (Müller & Troschel, 1848) | TetraodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| least pufferSphoeroides parvus Shipp & Yerger, 1969 | TetraodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Peruvian pufferSphoeroides sechurae Hildebrand, 1946 | TetraodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| checkered pufferSphoeroides testudineus (Linnaeus, 1758) | TetraodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| pygmy pufferSphoeroides trichocephalus (Cope, 1870) | TetraodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Sphoeroides yergeri Shipp, 1972 | TetraodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Sphoeroides ocellatus | TetraodontidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Liosaccus melanostictus Fowler, 1944 Fowler, 1944 | synonym |
| Tetrodon annulatus Jenyns, 1842 Jenyns, 1842 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=275272 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4Z2FL. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.