Pufferfish and Boxfish Codexery

Lactoria cornuta

A boxfish with cow-like horns and a toxic defense.

Last updated

Lactoria cornuta

Diego Delso · via Wikipedia: Longhorn cowfish · CC BY-SA 4.0

Lactoria cornuta is a marine ray-finned fish in the family Ostraciidae, order Tetraodontiformes.[1][2] The species can grow up to 50 cm long and is a resident of the Indo-Pacific region.[1]

Scientific classification

  1. KingdomAnimalia
  2. PhylumChordata
  3. ClassActinopterygii
  4. DivisionTeleostei
  5. OrderTetraodontiformes
  6. FamilyOstraciidae
  7. GenusLactoria
  8. SpeciesLactoria cornuta

Named by (Linnaeus, 1758)

Close relatives

Other species of Lactoria with a Codexery entry.

Sources: Wikipedia taxobox: Longhorn cowfish (CC BY-SA 4.0) · order, family and genus agree with WoRMS AphiaID 219904 (CC BY 4.0)

Conservation status

Least Concern (LC)

  1. LC▲ this species
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX
Population trend
Not held in our sources — see the assessment
Assessment published
2024

Source: IUCN Red List assessment · GBIF copy of the Red List category

How big is it?

Size comparison: Lactoria cornuta and a personA 0.5 m long lactoria cornuta drawn to scale next to a 1.8 m tall person. Schematic shapes, not a likeness.0.5 m1.8 m

Largest length in the source, 0.5 m, next to a 1.8 m person.

Diagram: drawn by Codexery, schematic shapes to scale (not a likeness). Length: Wikipedia: Longhorn cowfish

Where the lactoria cornuta has been recorded

Where the lactoria cornuta has been recorded253 mapped locations from 1,796 GBIF occurrence records; marked places: Marquesas Islands, Tuamotus, Ryukyu Islands, Lord Howe IslandMarquesas IslandsTuamotusRyukyu IslandsLord Howe Island

Each dot is a place where the species has been observed and reported (1,796 records, half-degree grid) — not a modelled range. 76 inland records left out (institution coordinates).

Map: drawn by Codexery. Data: GBIF occurrence search (records CC0 / CC BY) · Natural Earth basemap (public domain) · place coordinates: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Biology and range

Females are generally larger than males, with females averaging 121 mm and males averaging 103 mm.[3] By preying on invertebrates that damage coral, longhorn cowfish help protect the reefs where they live.[4] Males and females look alike, both having a yellow to olive body with white or bluish spots.[3]

What the specialist sources record

The World Register of Marine Species lists Lactoria cornuta as an accepted species in the family Ostraciidae, order Tetraodontiformes, class Teleostei, and notes its environment as marine and brackish.[2] GBIF records 2,416 occurrence records for this taxon as of 7 October 2026.[5] The Fishes of the World account states that Carl Linnaeus first formally described the species as Ostracion cornutus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae in 1758, with its type locality given as India.[6]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Longhorn cowfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Longhorn Cowfishes, Lactoria cornuta", MarineBio Conservation Society (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. World Register of Marine Species, Lactoria cornuta (AphiaID 219904). CC BY 4.0. marinespecies.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Longhorn cowfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tresnati, J., Dolo, R., Aprianto, R., & Tuwo, A. (2020, September). Some population parameters of Longhorn Cowfish Lactoria cornuta (Linnaeus, 1758) in Laikang (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Longhorn cowfish" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Frias-Torres, S., & van de Geer, C. (2015). Testing animal-assisted cleaning prior to transplantation in coral reef restoration. PeerJ, 3, e1287. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence index, Lactoria cornuta (taxon key 2408107). CC BY 4.0 (backbone); counts are facts. gbif.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Longhorn cowfish" (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

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Longhorn cowfish (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

Same family (Ostraciidae)

Acanthostracion guineense Acanthostracion guineenseHoneycomb cowfish Acanthostracion polygoniusIsland cowfish Acanthostracion notacanthusLactophrys trigonus Lactophrys trigonusLactophrys triqueter Lactophrys triqueter

Named in this entry

LactoriaCoral reef

More in Pufferfish and Boxfish

Lactoria diaphanaLactoria fornasiniOstracionOstracion cyanurusOstracion cubicumOstracion immaculatumOstracion meleagrisOstracion rhinorhynchosOstracion trachysOstracion solorenseOstracion whitleyiTetrosomus concatenatus

Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In what year was Lactoria cornuta first scientifically described?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1758.

From the source: “The longhorn cowfish was first formally described as Ostracion cornutus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae published in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus with its type locality given as India.”

2. To which biological family does the Lactoria cornuta belong?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Ostraciidae.

From the source: “The longhorn cowfish (Lactoria cornuta), also called the horned boxfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Ostraciidae, the boxfish.”

3. To which biological order does the Lactoria cornuta belong?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Tetraodontiformes.

From the source: “The 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies this genus within the family Ostraciidae in the suborder Ostracioidea within the order Tetraodontiformes.”

Answers checked against the source article

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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