Acanthostracion quadricornis

• Overview
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Overview

Threatened

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Family Ostraciidae

Distribution: Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. A bony carapace enclosing body. Pelvic skeleton absent. Spinous dorsal lacking. Dorsal fin rays 9-13. Anal fin rays 9-13. Non-protrusible upper jaw. Vertebrae usually 18. About 60 cm maximum length . Some species of trunkfishes secrete ostracitoxin , poisonous to other fishes and, to some extent, even to trunkfishes. Feed on small sessile invertebrates and on algae. They are territorial and haremic , spawning pelagic eggs at dusk. Not recommended for aquaria . Other common names in use are cowfishes and trunkfishes.The family Ostraciidae belongs to the Class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) and the Order Tetraodontiformes. It contains 14 genera and 33 species. It may be found in Marine environments and is primarily Marine. Many members of this family are used in the aquarium trade. Reproductively, most members of this family are nonguarders. The main mode of swimming of adult fish in this family is ostraciiform. Members of this family have been dated back to the lower Eocene epoch of the Tertiary period. Etymology of this family name : Greek, ostrakon = shell

Physical Description

Habitat

Found in shallow water down to about 80 m , mainly in seagrass beds [1]. Usually found at depths of 10 to 30 meters.

Typically found in water with a depth of 0 to -5,283 meters (0 to -17,333 feet).[2]

Biome: Saltwater . Reef-associated .

Biology

Diet

Feeds on sessile invertebrates such as tunicates , gorgonians and anemones, as well as on slow-moving crustaceans, sponges[1], hermit crabs and marine plants [3].

Reproduction

Oviparous [4].

Taxonomy

Unambiguous Synonyms

1. Acanthostracion tricornis (Linnaeus, 1758)
2. Lactophrys quadricornis (Linnaeus, 1758)
3. Lactophrys tricornis (Linnaeus, 1758)
4. Ostracion quadricornis Linnaeus, 1758

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Similar Species

Members of the genus Acanthostracion

There are approximately 10 species in this genus:

A. bucephalus · A. guineensis · A. notacanthus (Island Boxfish) · A. notacanthus polygonius · A. polygonias · A. polygonius (Honeycomb Cowfish) · A. quadricornis (Scrawled Cowfish) · A. tricornis · A. guineensis · A. guineensis

More Info

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Further Reading

• Annual report of the Commissioner of Fisheries to the Secretary of Commerce for the fiscal year ended Washington: G.P.O., 1914- ENG url p. 497.
• Böhlke, J.E. and C.C.G. Chaplin (1993). Fishes of the Bahamas and adjacent tropical waters. 2nd edition. University of Texas Press, Austin.
• Bohnsack, J.A. and D.E. Harper (1988). Length-weight relationships of selected marine reef fishes from the southeastern United States and the Caribbean. NOAA Tech. Mem. NMFS-SEFC-215:31 p.
• Cervigón, F., R. Cipriani, W. Fischer, L. Garibaldi, M. Hendrickx, A.J. Lemus, R. Márquez, J.M. Poutiers, G. Robaina and B. Rodriguez (1992). Fichas FAO de identificación de especies para los fines de la pesca. Guía de campo de las especies comerciales ma
• Claro, R. (1994). Características generales de la ictiofauna. p. 55-70. In R. Claro (ed.) Ecología de los peces marinos de Cuba. Instituto de Oceanología Academia de Ciencias de Cuba and Centro de Investigaciones de Quintana Roo.
• Claro, Rodolfo, and Lynne R. Parenti / Claro, Rodolfo, Kenyon C. Lindeman, and L. R. Parenti, eds. 2001. Chapter 2: The Marine Ichthyofauna of Cuba. Ecology of the Marine Fishes of Cuba. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington, DC, USA. 21-57. ISBN: 1-56098-985-8.
• Díaz de Astarloa, J.M. and D.E. Figueroa (1995). Scrawled cowfish, Acanthostracion quadricornis (Tetraodontiformes: Ostraciidae), collected from Argentine waters. Jap. J. Ichthyol. 41(4):466-468.
• Eschmeyer, William N., ed. 1998. Catalog of Fishes. Special Publication of the Center for Biodiversity Research and Information, no. 1, vol 1-3. California Academy of Sciences. San Francisco, California, USA. 2905. ISBN: 0-940228-47-5.
• FAO (1969). Report to the government of St. Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla on exploratory and experimental fishing around Saint Kitts and Nevis Rep. FAO (TA 2272) 28 p.
• Figueiredo, J.L. and N.A. Menezes (2000). Manual de peixes marinhos do sudeste do Brasil. VI.Teleostei (5). Museu de Zoologia, Universidade de São Paulo. Brazil. 116 p.
• Final environmental impact statement prepared on the proposed Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary. [Washington, D.C.]: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Coastal Zone Management, [1980] ENG url p. 21.
• Fishery circular / U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Fisheries. [Washington]: The Bureau, 1931-1939. ENG url p. 211, p. 222, p. 223, p. 229, p. 395, p. 416, p. 420.
• Gasparini, J.L. and S.R. Floeter (2001). The shore fishes of Trindade Island, western South Atlantic. J. Nat. Hist. 35:1639-1656.
• Gines, H. and F. Cervigón (1967). Exploracion pesquera en las costas de Guayana y Surinam año 1967. Estacíon de Investigaciones Marinas de Margarita. Fundacíon La Salle de Ciencias Naturales, Cont. 29.
• Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per Regna Tria Naturae secundum Classes, Ordinus, Genera, Species cum Characteribus, Differentiis Synonymis, Locis. 10th ed., Vol. 1. Holmiae Salvii. 824 p.
• Manickchand-Heileman, S. and J. Flüs (1990). Species composition and seasonality of coastal demersal fish stock in Trinidad, West Indies. Caribb. Mar. Stud. 1:1-21.
• Morris, A. (2003). Checklist of the fishes of the British Virgin Islands (UK). Unpublished. Made available by Annalie Morris as Excel spreadsheet.
• Ogden, J.C., J.A. Yntema, and I. Clavijo (1975). An annotated list of the fishes of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Spec. Publ. No. 3.
• Olsen, D.A., D.W. Nellis and R.S. Wood (1984). Ciguatera in the Eastern Caribbean. Mar. Fish. Rev. 46(1):13-18.
• Ontogeny and systematics of fishes: based on an international symposium dedicated to the memory of Elbert Halvor Ahlstrom / sponsored by the National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Dept. of Commer [New York?]: American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, c1984. ENG url p. 453.
• Robins, C.R. and G.C. Ray (1986). A field guide to Atlantic coast fishes of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, U.S.A. 354 p.
• Robins, Richard C., Reeve M. Bailey, Carl E. Bond, James R. Brooker, Ernest A. Lachner, et al. 1980. A List of Common and Scientific Names of Fishes from the United States and Canada, Fourth Edition. American Fisheries Society Special Publication, no. 12. American Fisheries Society. Bethesda, Maryland, USA. 174.
• Sadovy, Y. (1992). A preliminary assessment of the marine aquarium export trade in Puerto Rico. Proceedings of the Seventh International Coral Reef Symposium, Guam, Vol. 2, p. 1014-1021.
• Smith, C.L. (1997). National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p.
• Smith, M.M. (1986). Ostraciidae. p. 890-893. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
• Tyler, J.C. (1978). Ostraciidae. In W. Fischer (ed.) FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. West Atlantic (Fishing Area 31). Vol. 3. [pag. var.]. FAO, Rome.
• Uyeno, T., K. Matsuura and E. Fujii, Editors (1983). Fishes trawled off Suriname and French Guiana. Japan Marine Fishery Resource Research Center, Tokyo, Japan. 519 p.

Notes

Contributors

• Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-2006. Systema Naturae 2000. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Accessed October 7, 2006.
• Froese, R., and D. Pauly. FishBase 2004. International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed February 29, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 8 providers.
• Matsuura, Keiichi (from FishBase).

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal February 29, 2008:

• Canadian Museum of Nature: Canadian Museum of Nature Fish Collection
• FishBase: FishBase DiGIR Provider - Philippine Server
• GBIF-Sweden: Fishes (NRM)
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University: A Biological Survey of the Waters of Woods Hole and Vacinity
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University: Canadian Museum of Nature - Fish Collection (OBIS Canada)
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University: iziko South African Museum - Fish Collection
• Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University: NODC WOD01 Plankton Database
• Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History: Vertebrate specimens
• Museum national d'histoire naturelle: Ichtyologie
• Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University: MCZ Fish Collection
• OZCAM (Online Zoological Collections of Australian Museums) Provider: Online Zoological Collections of Australian Museums
• Royal Ontario Museum: Fish specimens
• UNIBIO, IBUNAM: CNPE/Coleccion Nacional de Peces
• University of Kansas Biodiversity Research Center: Fish Collection

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 2486307
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: Fis-22736
• Fishbase Species ID: 92
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13743420
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 173245
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 101176

Footnotes

1. Tyler, J.C. (1978). Ostraciidae. In W. Fischer (ed.) FAO species identification sheets for fishery purposes. West Atlantic (Fishing Area 31). Vol. 3. [pag. var.]. FAO, Rome. [back]
2. Mean = -1,314.440 meters (-4,312.467 feet), Standard Deviation = 2,655.770 based on 87 observations. Ocean depth information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]
3. Randall, J.E. (1996). Caribbean reef fishes. Third Edition - revised and enlarged. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd., Hong Kong. 3nd ed. 368 p. [back]
4. Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966). Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p. [back]

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