Shortnose boxfish

Ostracion nasus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth26–70 m
Water temperature15–29 °C
Best monthsAugust, September, and October
How commonOccasional

About this species

The Shortnose 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.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Shortnose 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: 28 records
February: 41 records
March: 15 records
April: 34 records
May: 11 records
June: 69 records
July: 27 records
August: 129 records
September: 198 records
October: 181 records
November: 54 records
December: 19 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 26–70 m · Deepest record: 192 m

0–10 m: 4 records
10–20 m: 16 records
20–30 m: 110 records
30–40 m: 194 records
40–50 m: 139 records
50–60 m: 109 records
60–70 m: 58 records
70–80 m: 29 records
80–90 m: 34 records
90–100 m: 2 records
100–110 m: 4 records
110+ m: 5 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 15–29 °C

14–16 °C: 1 records
16–18 °C: 0 records
18–20 °C: 1 records
20–22 °C: 2 records
22–24 °C: 3 records
24–26 °C: 12 records
26–28 °C: 324 records
28–30 °C: 49 records

Names and classification

English: Shortnose boxfish, lognosed boxfish, Long-nosed Box-fish, Nasal Boxfish, shortnose boxfish, Small-nosed Box-fish, Small-nosed Boxfish

Names in 5 more languages

German: Kurznasen-Kofferfisch
Spanish: Cofre de hocico corto
Filipino: Baka-bakahan
Japanese: Hyomon-Hakofugu
Thai: ปลาปักเป้าจมูกสั้น

Other scientific names: Phynchostracion nasus, Rhynchostracion nasus, Ryncostracion nasus

Similar species

Spotted boxfish
Ostracion meleagris
Black-spotted Boxfish
Ostracion cubicum
horn-nosed boxfish
Ostracion rhinorhynchos
Reticulate Boxfish
Ostracion solorense
Scrawled cowfish
Acanthostracion quadricornis
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).
871 open-data records from 1785 to 2017.

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