When there’s danger lurking, and there’s no escape from it, pufferfish puff themselves up with air, float upside down and pretend to be dead. This clever reaction makes most predators ignore them. No one wants a stale lunch, right?

Pufferfish (see picture) are commonly found in the many rivers of India, Malaysia and Burma. All 320 species of pufferfish use similar forms of defence.

Porcupine fish, for example, swell up so that their sharp spines stand out like pins on a pincushion.

Triggerfish, on the other hand, bloat up by enlarging a flap under their bellies.

An interesting fact about pufferfish is that while a female pufferfish lays her clutch of eggs at the bottom of the river, it is always the male pufferfish who looks after them until they hatch.