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Ostraciidae; Temporal range: Eocene–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
	Yellow boxfish Ostracion cubicus
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Tetraodontiformes
Suborder:	Ostracioidea
Family:	Ostraciidae; Rafinesque, 1810
Genera
	See text

Ostraciidae or Ostraciontidae is a family of squared, bony fish belonging to the order Tetraodontiformes, closely related to the pufferfishes and filefishes. Fish in the family are known variously as boxfishes, cofferfishes, cowfishes and trunkfishes. It contains about 23 extant species in 6 extant genera.

Taxonomy

Ostraciidae was first proposed as a family in 1810 by the French polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque.^[1] In the past this grouping was regarded as a subfamily, the Ostraciinae, along with the subfamily Aracaninae, of a wider Ostraciidae. However, recent phylogenetic studies have concluded that the families Aracanidae and Ostraciidae are valid families but that they are part of the same clade, the suborder Ostracioidei.^[2] The 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies this clade as the suborder Ostracioidea within the order Tetraodontiformes.^[3]

Etymology

Ostraciidae takes its name from its type genus, Ostracion, a name which means "little box" and is an allusion to the shape of the body of its type species, O. cubicus.^[4]

Description

Ostraciidae boxfishes occur in a variety of different colors, and are notable for the hexagonal or "honeycomb" patterns on their skin. They swim in a rowing manner. Their hexagonal plate-like scales are fused together into a solid, triangular or box-like carapace, from which the fins, tail, eyes and mouth protrude. Because of these heavy armoured scales, Ostraciidae are limited to slow movements, but few other fish are able to eat the adults. Ostraciid boxfish of the genus Lactophrys also secrete poisons from their skin into the surrounding water, further protecting them from predation.^[5] Although the adults are in general quite square in shape, young Ostraciidae are more rounded. The young often exhibit brighter colors than the adults. The scrawled cowfish, Acanthostracion quadricornis, can grow up to 50 centimetres (20 in) in length, but is generally smaller at higher latitudes.^{[citation needed]}

Range

Ostraciids occur in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans,^[3] generally at middle latitudes, although the common or buffalo trunkfish (Lactophrys trigonus) which lives mainly in Florida waters may be found as far north as Cape Cod.^{[citation needed]}

Toxic defences

The various members of this family are able to secrete cationic surfactants through their skin which can act as a chemical defense mechanism.^[6] An example of this is pahutoxin, a water-soluble, crystalline chemical toxin that is contained in mucus secreted from the skin of Ostracion lentiginosus and other members of the trunkfish family when they are under stress.^[7] Pahutoxin is a choline chloride ester of 3-acetoxypalmitic acid^[8] that behaves similarly to steroidal saponins found in echinoderms.^[7] When this toxic mucus is released from the fish, it quickly dissolves in the environment and negatively affects any fish in the surrounding area. It is possible since this toxin resembles certain detergents so closely, that adding these detergents as pollutants to seawater has potential to interfere with receptor-mediated processes in marine life.^[9]

Classification

The author Keiichi Matsuura lists the following genera and species:^[2]

Extant taxa

There are about 25 recognized extant species in six genera:^[3]^[10]

Fossil taxa

Genus Eolactoria Tyler, 1975
- Eolactoria sorbinii Tyler 1976 (Lutetian of Monte Bolca, Eocene Italy)
Genus Oligolactoria Tyler & Gregorova, 1991
- Oligolactoria bubiki Tyler & Gregorova, 1991 (Rupelian of Moravia, Oligocene Czech Republic)

References

^ Richard van der Laan; William N. Eschmeyer & Ronald Fricke (2014). "Family-group names of recent fishes". Zootaxa. 3882 (2): 1–230. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1. PMID 25543675.
^ ^a ^b Matsuura, K. (2014). "Taxonomy and systematics of tetraodontiform fishes: a review focusing primarily on progress in the period from 1980 to 2014". Ichthyological Research. 62 (1): 72–113. Bibcode:2015IchtR..62...72M. doi:10.1007/s10228-014-0444-5.
^ ^a ^b ^c Nelson, J.S.; Grande, T.C.; Wilson, M.V.H. (2016). Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 518–526. doi:10.1002/9781119174844. ISBN 978-1-118-34233-6. LCCN 2015037522. OCLC 951899884. OL 25909650M.
^ Christopher Scharpf (21 August 2024). "Order TETRAODONTIFORMES: Families MOLIDAE, BALISTIDAE, MONACANTHIDAE, ARACANIDAE and OSTRACIIDAE". Christopher Scharpf. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
^ Matsuura, K. & Tyler, J.C. (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 229–230. ISBN 978-0-12-547665-2.
^ Abdulhaqq, A.J. & Shier, W.T. (1991): Icthyocrinotoxins and their potential use as shark repellents. Journal of Toxicology-Toxin Reviews, 10 (3): 289–320.
^ ^a ^b Boylan, D.B. & Scheuer, P.J. (1967). "Pahutoxin: a fish poison". Science. 155 (3758): 52–56. Bibcode:1967Sci...155...52B. doi:10.1126/science.155.3758.52. PMID 6015563. S2CID 37688987.
^ Pubchem. "palmitic acid - C16H32O2 - PubChem".
^ Kalmanzon, E.; Aknin-Herrman, R.; Rahamim, Y.; Carmeli, S.; Barenholz, Y.; Zlotkin, E. (2001). "Cooperative cocktail in a chemical defence mechanism of a trunkfish". Cellular & Molecular Biology Letters. 6 (4): 971–84. PMID 11753441.
^ Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Ostraciidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2 October 2024.