BOXFISH
Bony shields
Unlike puffers and porcupine fish, boxfish have a hard shelled bony shield with holes for the fins and slits for gills. Boxfish tend to be fatter than a leatherjacket, but thinner than a pufferfish or porcupine fish.
Pictured here is a white barred boxfish Anoplocapros Lenticularis which sometimes gets the nickname “Humpty Dumpty” due to its deep body and round humpbacked appearance. Adult males are yellowish-orange to brownish-orange or reddish with broad pale grey to whitish bands on the side. Females are similar, but paler with additional black irregular lines and spots on the dorsal half of body. Small juveniles are somewhat similar to females, but with more spots.
Horned hunters
Boxfish have a unique way of feeding, often exposing prey by blowing jets of water onto the sediment. Some, especially females have small ‘horns’ and are often called cowfish as a result.
Pictured here is an ornate cowfish Aracana ornata. Males like the one in this photo are covered in vibrant blue and orange stripes, spots and reticulations, and have a yellowish-orange tail with a pattern of blue lines. Males have also have the distinct hump on the snout.
Pretty pair
Often confused with ornate cowfish, these fish are a Shaw’s cowfish Aracana aurita. Like the ornate cowfish, these fish are sexually dimorphic, meaning males and females exhibit different characteristics.
For the Shaw’s cowfish males are brightly-coloured and have pale blue wavy lines and spots over an orange background. Females and juveniles have irregular brown wavy lines and stripes on a pale background.
Spotting species
The lines on the side of the face of both male and female Shaw's cowfish are more-or-less horizontal, whereas those of the closely-related ornate cowfish are more angled. Male ornate cowfish also have a distinct hump on the snout. Female ornate cowfish also have deeper bodies and narrower stripes. While the white barred (orange) boxfish is much easier to differentiate.
Rocky reef lovers
Shaw's cowfish, the ornate cowfish and the white barred boxfish all inhabit rocky reefs and seagrass beds in sheltered bays, harbours, and coastal waters. Endemic to the Great Southern Reef, most of these temperate boxfish can reach up to around 30cm and are live up to a depth of around 250m, although occasionally they can be spotted hanging around shallow dive sites like jetties.
Fast Facts:
Family: Aracanidae (temperate boxfishes)
Feeding: Carnivore - feeds on a range of benthic invertebrates
Habitat: Rocky reefs and seagrass beds
Distribution: Endemic to the Great Southern Reef
Special Power: Water jet blowing
