Spotted boxfish
Ostracion meleagris
- Usual depth3–20 m
- Water temperature18–30 °C
- Best monthsApril, July, and August
- How commonCommon
About this species
The spotted boxfish, also known as the black boxfish, ornate boxfish or white-spotted boxfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Ostraciidae, the boxfishes. This species is found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It occurs on reefs at depths of from 1 to 30 metres. This species grows to a length of 25 centimetres. Males and females differ in colour: males are blackish on the back with white spots, and have bluish sides with bright yellowish bands and spots. Females and juveniles are dark brown to blackish with white spots. As with other species of boxfish, the spotted boxfish's bony carapace gives it a distinctly angular appearance; it has been described as resembling an ottoman.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Spotted boxfish”, 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: 74 records
- February: 73 records
- March: 124 records
- April: 144 records
- May: 112 records
- June: 107 records
- July: 169 records
- August: 173 records
- September: 140 records
- October: 123 records
- November: 52 records
- December: 9 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 3–20 m · Deepest record: 497 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 18–30 °C
Names and classification
- English
- Spotted boxfish, Whitespotted boxfish, Black Box-fish, Black Boxfish, Blue-spotted Boxfish, Ornate Boxfish, pahu, spotted boxfish, Spotted Boxfish, Spotted Trunkfish, whitespotted boxfish
Names in 6 more languages
- German
- Weißpunkt-Kofferfisch
- Spanish
- cofre manchado, cofre moteado, pez caja manchado
- French
- Poisson-coffre pintade, Poisson-coffre ponctué
- Japanese
- Kuro-hakofugu, Kurohakofugu, クロハコフグ
- Thai
- ปลาปักเป้ากล่องดำลายจุด
- Simplified Chinese
- 海牛港, 白点箱鲀, 白點箱魨, 箱河魨, 米點箱魨, 花木瓜
Other scientific names: Ostracion camurum, Ostracion clippertonense, Ostracion lentiginosus, Ostracion punctatus, Ostracion sebae, Ostracium sebae
Similar species
- Black-spotted Boxfish
Ostracion cubicum
- Shortnose boxfish
Ostracion nasus
- horn-nosed boxfish
Ostracion rhinorhynchos
- Reticulate Boxfish
Ostracion solorense
- Longhorn cowfish
Lactoria cornuta
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).
- 2,918 open-data records from 1796 to 2024.
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