Humpback turret
Tetrosomus gibbosus
- Usual depth31–85 m
- Water temperature15–30 °C
- Best monthsAugust, September, and October
- How commonOccasional
About this species
Tetrosomus gibbosus, commonly called camel cowfish because of the hump on its dorsal keel, is one of 22 species in the boxfish family, Ostraciidae. It is a ray finned fish. Other common names include helmet cowfish, humpback turretfish and thornbacked boxfish. It is most closely related to T. reipublicae, the smallspine turretfish. T. gibbosus is a species of boxfish found in the wide Indo-West Pacific. It has been recorded since 1988 on rare occasions in the Levantine waters of the Mediterranean Sea, likely following entry via the Suez Canal. It is the first species from the family Ostraciidae to be found in the Mediterranean Sea.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Tetrosomus gibbosus”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article
Where and when
Where it has been recorded
Worldwide
Loading the map
Best months
Worldwide (open data)
- January: 16 records
- February: 21 records
- March: 10 records
- April: 19 records
- May: 6 records
- June: 28 records
- July: 8 records
- August: 91 records
- September: 125 records
- October: 106 records
- November: 26 records
- December: 6 records
Depth and water temperature
Depth
Mostly recorded at 31–85 m · Deepest record: 154.5 m
Water temperature
Recorded in surface water of 15–30 °C
Names and classification
- English
- Humpback turret, Humpback turretfish, Thornback trunkfish, blackclotched turretfish, humpback turret, thornback trunkfish
Names in 3 more languages
- Spanish
- Cofre Jorobado
- French
- Coffre Bossu, Coffre bossu, Poisson-coffre pyramide
- Japanese
- Rakudahakofugu, ラクダハコフグ
Other scientific names: Ostracion gibbosus, Ostracion turritus, Rhinesomus gibbosus, Tertrosomus gibbosus, Tetrasoma gibbosus, Tetrasomus gibbosus, Tetrosomus gibosus
Similar species
- Spotted boxfish
Ostracion meleagris
- Longhorn cowfish
Lactoria cornuta
- Black-spotted Boxfish
Ostracion cubicum
- Shortnose boxfish
Ostracion nasus
- horn-nosed boxfish
Ostracion rhinorhynchos
- Reticulate Boxfish
Ostracion solorense
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).
- 595 open-data records from 1758 to 2017.
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