The northern puffer, Sphoeroides maculatus, is a species in the family Tetraodontidae, or pufferfishes, found along the Atlantic coast of North America.

[4][failed verification] There was widespread consumption of northern puffers during the rationing that accompanied the Second World War, establishing a commercial fishery that reached its zenith in the 1960s.

Sphoeroides maculatus, like others in the puffer family, "puffs up" into a ball in self-defense by inhaling water into a special chamber near its stomach.

[2] The northern puffer inhabits bays, estuaries and protected coastal waters at depths of 10–183 m (33–600 ft) in the northwest Atlantic.

[citation needed] Northern puffers spawn from May through August in shallow water over sandy or muddy bottoms.