Painted Boxfish

Aracana aurita

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth5–47 m
Water temperature14–26 °C
Best monthsMarch and April
How commonOccasional

About this species

Aracana aurita, the Shaw's cowfish, painted boxfish, southern cowfish or striped cowfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Aracanidae, the deepwater boxfishes or temperate boxfishes. This species is endemic to the seas off southern Australia.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Aracana aurita”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 20 records
February: 34 records
March: 117 records
April: 75 records
May: 52 records
June: 37 records
July: 31 records
August: 18 records
September: 32 records
October: 13 records
November: 27 records
December: 30 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 5–47 m · Deepest record: 201 m

0–10 m: 200 records
10–20 m: 51 records
20–30 m: 9 records
30–40 m: 22 records
40–50 m: 5 records
50–60 m: 11 records
60–70 m: 5 records
70–80 m: 7 records
80–90 m: 2 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110+ m: 4 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 14–26 °C

12–14 °C: 44 records
14–16 °C: 109 records
16–18 °C: 13 records
18–20 °C: 18 records
20–22 °C: 8 records
22–24 °C: 0 records
24–26 °C: 1 records

Names and classification

English: Painted Boxfish, Shaw's Cowfish, Shaw’s Cowfish, Shaws Cowfish, Southern Cowfish, Striped Cowfish

Names in 3 more languages

German: Gestreifter Schmuckkofferfisch
Spanish: Cofre de Shaw
Simplified Chinese: 金黃六棱箱魨

Other scientific names: Acarana aurita, Ostracion auritus, Ostracion spilogaster

Similar species

Ornate Boxfish
Aracana ornata
Blue Boxfish
Anoplocapros inermis
High-backed Boxfish
Anoplocapros lenticularis
Blue Boxfish
Anoplocapros amygdaloides
Itomaki Basketfish
Kentrocapros aculeatus

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
926 open-data records from 1890 to 2022.

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