A genus of porcupine fishes related to balloon fish, globefish, and puffers. Although the common puffer is widely eaten as “sea squab” in the United States, many puffers, especially in the Pacific, are poisonous because of the presence of a neurotoxin, tetrodotoxin, in the liver and ovary. [G. di-, two, + odous (odont-), tooth]
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Di·o·don (diґo-don) a genus of tetraodontiform fishes of the family Diodontidae; some species are poisonous when ingested.Medical dictionary. 2011.