Black-banded Pigmy Boxfish

Capropygia unistriata

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth63–204 m
Water temperature16–21 °C
Best monthsApril, August, and December
How commonRare

Photo credit: (c) leonie_rennie, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

Capropygia is a monospecific genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Aracanidae, the deepwater boxfishes or temperate boxfishes. The only species in the genus is the black-banded pigmy boxfish, also known as the spiny boxfish which is endemic to southern Australia.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Capropygia”, 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: 6 records
February: 6 records
March: 6 records
April: 14 records
May: 3 records
June: 4 records
July: 0 records
August: 11 records
September: 3 records
October: 3 records
November: 7 records
December: 10 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 63–204 m · Deepest record: 339 m

30–40 m: 1 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 2 records
60–70 m: 1 records
70–80 m: 4 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 2 records
100–110 m: 1 records
110–120 m: 2 records
120–130 m: 3 records
130–140 m: 7 records
140+ m: 12 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 16–21 °C

14–16 °C: 3 records
16–18 °C: 19 records
18–20 °C: 29 records
20–22 °C: 9 records

Photos

Names and classification

English: Black-banded Pigmy Boxfish, Black-banded Pygmy Boxfish, Spiny Boxfish

Other scientific names: Acerana unistriata

Similar species

Blue Boxfish
Anoplocapros inermis
High-backed Boxfish
Anoplocapros lenticularis
Painted Boxfish
Aracana aurita
Ornate Boxfish
Aracana ornata
Blue Boxfish
Anoplocapros amygdaloides
Black-spotted Boxfish
Caprichthys gymnura

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).
92 open-data records from 1909 to 2007.
Species data updated November 1, 2026.

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