This pufferfish has become a social media sensation having racked up over 300,000 followers on TikTok.

Rona the pufferfish lives with her owner Dixon Mianis, 25, in Washington DC, who describes his pet as incredibly smart, fun and even compared her to a dog.

Rona’s social media accounts which are managed by her owner, have taken off with her Instagram accumulating over 30,000 followers whilst her TikTok videos are keenly anticipated by over 300,000 Netizens.

Dixon told Newsflash that initially, the accounts were a bit tongue in the cheek as he didn’t expect much to come of them.

However, the videos of Rona swimming around her tank and eating shrimp quickly gained traction and 1000s of Netizens soon started liking and sharing the posts.

He said: “I was very surprised that she became so popular but she’s an awesome fish, so it makes sense.”

When asked if he thinks a fish can become an influencer he pointed out that Rona already has 300,000 followers on TikTok so he doesn’t see why not.

He is convinced that Rona recognises him and is happy to see him, although that might have something to do with the fact that often when he turns up it’s to deposit her favourite food which includes crawfish, snails, shrimp and clams.

Rona is an efficient hunter, and some of the more gruesome videos show her disabling the pinchers from shrimps and prawns before finishing them off.

But her rather unsavoury eating habits have not stopped her growing popularity, including a nomination in his local paper the Washington City Paper last year as the “best fish” in all of DC.

He said: “I think it’s a pretty big deal because DC is really a big city with a lot of other really good fish in it so we are very excited to win this.”

He added: “The humans will be celebrating with champagne (nothing says success like an eight dollar Andrei bottle) and Rona will be celebrating with a muscle dinner.”

Pufferfish like Rona have the scientific name Tetraodontidae which comes from the fact that they have four front teeth fused into an upper and lower plate in order to bite through the shells of their prey.

Most pufferfish are toxic yet despite that they are considered a delicacy particularly in Japan and China where they have to be prepared by specially trained chefs, who can select which bits can be eaten, and which not.

David Attenborough described male puffer fish as the greatest artist of the animal kingdom, because they woo females by creating artistic nests with complex designs in the sand.

It is an excellent swimmer, capable of moving in all directions although not fast, and it has excellent eyesight for a fish which is its best defence, coupled with the fact that it can inflate its stomach to make it seem much larger.

The increased size is a reminder to potential predators that they are facing an unpalatable often spiky and probably toxic meal rather than a slow, easy snack.