Ostraciidae
| Boxfishes and trunkfish | |
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| Honeycomb cowfish, Acanthostracion polygonius. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Tetraodontiformes |
| Family: | Ostraciidae |
| Genera | |
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Ostraciidae is a family of squared, bony fish belonging to the order Tetraodontiformes, closely related to the pufferfishes and filefishes. Fish in the family are known variously as boxfishes, cofferfishes, cowfishes and trunkfishes. It contains about 33 species in nine extant genera.
Ostraciidae occur in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans, generally at middle latitudes, although the common or buffalo trunkfish (Lactophrys trigonus) which lives mainly in Florida waters may be found as far north as Cape Cod. The scrawled cowfish, Acanthostracion quadricornis, can grow up to 50 centimetres (20 in) in length, but is generally smaller at higher latitudes.
Members of this family occur in a variety of different colors, and are notable for the hexagonal or "honeycomb" patterns on their skin. They swim in a rowing manner. The hexagonal plate-like scales of these fish are fused together into a solid, triangular, box-like carapace, from which the fins, tail, eyes and mouth protrude. Because of these heavy armoured scales, Ostraciidae are limited to slow movements, but few other fish are able to eat the adults. Ostraciidae of the Genus Lactophrys also secrete poisons from their skin into the surrounding water, further protecting them from predation.[1] Although the adults are in general quite square in shape, young Ostraciidae are more rounded. The young often exhibit brighter colors than the adults.
[edit] Classification
The World Register of Marine Species lists the following genera and species:[2]
Family OSTRACIIDAE
- Genus †Eolactoria
- †Eolactoria sorbinii Tyler 1976 (Lutetian of Monte Bolca, Eocene Italy)
- Genus †Oligolactoria
- †Oligolactoria bubiki Tyler 1980 (Rupelian of Moravia, Oligocene Czech Republic)
- Genus Acanthostracion
- Genus Anoplocapros
- Anoplocapros amygdaloides Fraser-Brunner, 1941
- Anoplocapros inermis (Fraser-Brunner, 1935)
- Anoplocapros lenticularis (Richardson, 1841)
- Anoplocapros robustus (Fraser-Brunner, 1941)
- Genus Kentrocapros
- Kentrocapros aculeatus (Houttuyn, 1782)
- Kentrocapros eco (Phillipps, 1932)
- Kentrocapros flavofasciatus (Kamohara, 1938)
- Kentrocapros rosapinto (Smith, 1949)
- Genus Lactophrys
- Spotted trunkfish, Lactophrys bicaudalis (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Buffalo trunkfish, Lactophrys trigonus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Genus Lactoria
- Longhorn cowfish, Lactoria cornuta (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Roundbelly cowfish, Lactoria diaphana (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
- Thornback cowfish, Lactoria fornasini (Bianconi, 1846)
- Lactoria paschae (Rendahl, 1921)
- Genus Ostracion
- Yellow boxfish, Ostracion cubicus Linnaeus, 1758
- Bluetail trunkfish, Ostracion cyanurus Rüppell, 1828
- Ostracion immaculatus Temminck & Schlegel, 1850
- Whitespotted boxfish, Ostracion meleagris Shaw, 1796
- Shortnose boxfish, Ostracion nasus Bloch, 1785
- Horn-nosed boxfish, Ostracion rhinorhynchos Bleeker, 1852
- Reticulate boxfish, Ostracion solorensis Bleeker, 1853
- Roughskin trunkfish, Ostracion trachys Randall, 1975
- Whitley's box, Ostracion whitleyi Fowler, 1931
- Genus Paracanthostracion
- Paracanthostracion lindsayi (Phillipps, 1932)
- Genus Rhinesomus
- Smooth trunkfish, Rhinesomus triqueter (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Genus Tetrosomus
- Triangular boxfish, Tetrosomus concatenatus (Bloch, 1785)
- Humpback turretfish, Tetrosomus gibbosus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Smallspine turretfish, Tetrosomus reipublicae (Ogilby, 1913)
- Tetrosomus stellifer (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)
[edit] Toxic Defences
The various members of this family are able to secrete cationic surfactants through their skin which can act as a chemical defense mechanism.[3] An example of this is pahutoxin, a water soluble, crystalline chemical toxin that is contained in mucus secreted from the skin of Ostracion lentiginosus and other members of the trunkfish family when they are under stress.[4] Pahutoxin is a choline chloride ester of 3-acetoxypalmitic acid [1] that behaves similarly to steroidal saponins found in echinoderms.[4] When this toxic mucus is released from the fish, it quickly dissolves in the environment and negatively affects any fish in the surrounding area. It is possible since this toxin resembles certain detergents so closely, that adding these detergents as pollutants to seawater has potential to interfere with receptor-mediated processes in marine life.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ Matsura, Keiichi & Tyler, James C. (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N.. ed. Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 229–230. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
- ^ van der Land, Jacob (2010). "Ostraciidae". World Register of Marine Species. http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=125611. Retrieved 2012-01-01.
- ^ Abdulhaqq, A. J. and Shier, W. T. (1991) Icthyocrinotoxins and their potential use as shark repellents. Journal of Toxicology-Toxin Reviews, 10(3): 289-320
- ^ a b Boylan, D. B. and Scheuer, P. J. (1967). "Pahutoxin: a fish poison". Science 155 (3758): 52–56. Bibcode 1967Sci...155...52B. doi:10.1126/science.155.3758.52. PMID 6015563.
- ^ Kalmanzon, E., Aknin-Herrman, R., Rahamim, Y., Carmeli, S., Barenholz, Y. and Zlotkin, E. (2001) Cooperative cocktail in a chemical defence mechanism of a trunkfish. Cellular & Molecular Biology Letters, 6: 971-984
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ostraciidae |
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Wikispecies has information related to: Ostraciidae |
- Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2005). "Ostraciidae" in FishBase. November 2005 version.
- Zim, Herbert, and Shomemaker, Hurst. Fishes. Golden Press, New York (1955).
