Description
Also known as Boxfish, Cowfish, Ornate Boxfish, Ornate Thornback Boxfish, Ornate Thornback Cowfish, Ornate Thornback Trunkfish, Ornate Trunkfish, Temperate Boxfish, Trunkfish.
Found singly, in shallow waters, over rocky areas and in seagrass beds of bays, harbours and sheltered coastal reefs.
They feed on benthic invertebrates.
Length - 15cm
Depth - 5-60m
Eastern Indian Ocean - Australia
The bodies of Boxfish are covered in a toxic mucus which can be released when stressed.
Aracanidae are related to the boxfish but usually found in deeper waters. Ref: https://www.fishbase.in/summary/Aracana-ornata.html
2 comments
The nearest I could get without a picture is Peacock Flounder - Bothus lunatus http://www.whatsthatfish.com/fish/peacock-flounder/1612 but no coral colour, although juveniles of some flounder etc, are sometimes striped!
Just saw 2 fishes with base colour turquoise and orange /coral stripes (coloring exactly like the cowfish tail) about 7 inches long (not including tail) that looked like a flounder shape. It was in a manmade lake. The water level on lake is quite low. Would love to know what they are. The lake is in a urbanization in Sunrise, Florida.