The reason most puffers die within the first months of captivity is that the local fish store fails tremendously to inform their customers about the requirements of their new fish. I have seen many puffers either mislabled or not labled at all in fresh water tanks, slowlly dying. The key is to know what species you are getting (even if your fish store does not tell you) and to know what kind of water they need.
This is a quick guide to determine which puffers are from freshwater, brackish and marine.
Fresh water Puffers:
Auriglobus modestus; --- Bronze puffer
Carinotetraodon borneensis; --- Bornean redeyed puffer
Carinotetraodon irrubesco; --- Red tailed redeye puffer
Carinotetraodon salivator; --- Striped redeye puffer
Carinotetraodon travancoricus; --- Dwarf Puffer
Colomesus asellus; --- South American Puffer
Monotrete abei; --- Abei Puffer
Tetraodon baileyi; --- 'Hairy' puffer
Tetraodon barbatus
Tetraodon cochinchinensis; --- Fangs Puffer
Tetraodon cutcutia; --- Common Puffer
Tetraodon duboisi; --- Dubois' Freshwater Puffer
Tetraodon lineatus; ---Fahaka puffer
Tetraodon mbu; --- Mbu Puffer
Tetraodon miurus; --- Congo Puffer
Tetraodon palembangensis; --- Palembang Puffer
Tetraodon pustulatus; --- Cross River Puffer
Tetraodon suvattii; --- Arrowhead Puffer
Tetraodon turgidus; --- Brown Puffer
Brackish Puffers
Colomesus psittacus; --- Banded Puffer
Tetraodon biocellatus; --- Figure Eight Puffer
Tetraodon erythrotaenia; --- Red-striped Toadfish
Tetraodon fluviatilis; --- Ceylon Puffer
Tetraodon nigroviridis; --- Green Spotted Puffer
Tetraodon Sabahensis; --- Giant Spotted Puffer
Marine Puffers
Arothron caerulopunctatus; --- Blue-spotted Puffer
Arothron diadematus; --- Masked Puffer
Arothron hispidus; --- White-spotted puffer
Arothron manilensis; --- Narrow-lined Puffer
Arothron mappa; --- Map puffer
Arothron meleagris; --- Guineafowl Puffer
Arothron nigropunctatus; --- Dog-faced Puffer
Arothron reticularis; --- Reticulated Puffer
Arothron stellatus; --- Starry Toadfish
Canthigaster bennetti; --- Bennett's Sharpnose Puffer
Canthigaster coronata; --- Crowned Puffer
Canthigaster papua; --- Papuan Toby
Canthigaster rostrata; --- Caribbean Sharpnose Puffer
Canthigaster solandri; --- Spotted Sharpnose
Canthigaster valentini; --- Saddled Puffer
Diodon holocanthus; --- Porcupine Puffer
Sphoeroides annulatus; --- Bullseye Puffer
Sphoeroides marmoratus; --- Guinean Puffer
Takifugu niphobles; --- Niphobles Puffer
Takifugu oblongus; --- Lattice Blaasop
Takifugu ocellatus; --- Fugu Puffer
Takifugu pardalis; --- Panther Puffer
Takifugu rubripes; --- Tiger Puffer
There are is a great amount of information on each species on:
The Puffer Forum