Pufferfish and Boxfish Codexery

Ostraciidae

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Ostraciidae

portioid · via Wikipedia: Ostraciidae · CC BY-SA 4.0

They are commonly known as boxfishes due to their box-like body shape.[1] Constantine Samuel Rafinesque, a French scholar, originally proposed the family Ostraciidae in 1810.[2][3] According to the 2016 edition of "Fishes of the World", six genera contain roughly 25 currently living species.[4][5]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassActinopterygii
  4. DivisionTeleostei
  5. OrderTetraodontiformes
  6. FamilyOstraciidae

Named by Rafinesque, 1810

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Ostraciidae (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Quick Facts

Alternate name
Ostraciontidae
Order
Tetraodontiformes
Extant genera
6
Type genus
Ostracion
Maximum length
50 cm (scrawled cowfish, Acanthostracion quadricornis)

Facts from the source article.

Biology and range

Their fins, tail, eyes and mouth protrude from this armored shell.[6] Few other fish are able to eat the adults due to this armor.[6] Young Ostraciidae are more rounded in shape than the square adults.[6] Ostraciids occur in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans, generally at middle latitudes.[7]

The common trunkfish (Lactophrys trigonus) lives mainly in Florida waters but may be found as far north as Cape Cod.[7] The carapace of Ostraciidae is a solid, triangular or box-like structure formed from fused hexagonal plate-like scales.[6] Their heavy armor restricts Ostraciidae to moving slowly.[6] Their swimming style is described as rowing.[6]

What the specialist sources record

The Encyclopedia of Fishes (1998) describes their fused scales and slow swimming.[8][6] The World Register of Marine Species lists Ostraciidae as an accepted family in the order Tetraodontiformes, class Teleostei, with a marine and brackish environment.[3] GBIF holds 152,923 occurrence records for this taxon as of 7 October 2026.[9] The "Encyclopedia of Fishes" (1998) documents both their hexagonal skin patterns and their rowing method of swimming.[8][6]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Ostraciidae" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Christopher Scharpf, "Order TETRAODONTIFORMES: Families MOLIDAE, BALISTIDAE, MONACANTHIDAE, ARACANIDAE and OSTRACIIDAE", Christopher Scharpf, 21 August 2024 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Ostraciidae" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Family-group names of recent fishes", Zootaxa, 2014, p. 1–230 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. World Register of Marine Species, Ostraciidae (AphiaID 125611). CC BY 4.0. marinespecies.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Ostraciidae" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Fishes of the World", John Wiley & Sons, 2016, p. 518–526; (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Open Library record, ISBN 9781118342336 ("Fishes of the World"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Ostraciidae" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Encyclopedia of Fishes", Academic Press, 1998, p. 229–230 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Ostraciidae" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Fishes of the World", John Wiley & Sons, 2016, p. 518–526 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Open Library record, ISBN 9780125476652 ("Encyclopedia of fishes"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
  9. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Ostraciidae (taxon key 2220). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Ostraciidae (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

Related entries

Ostracion, Lactophrys

More in Pufferfish and Boxfish

AcanthostracionParacanthostracionOstracion nasusTetrosomusAcanthostracion guineenseHoneycomb cowfishIsland cowfishScrawled cowfishLactophrys triqueterSpotted trunkfishLactophrys trigonusLactoria cornuta

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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