Ornate cowfish
Male
Female
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Tetraodontiformes
Family: Aracanidae
Genus: Aracana
Species:
A. ornata
Binomial name
Aracana ornata
(J.E. Gray, 1838)

Aracana ornata, also known as the ornate cowfish, is a species of deepwater boxfish native to southern Australia. First described by John Edward Gray in 1838,[1] the species has a maximum length of 15 cm. They can be differentiated from their close cousins, the striped cowfish, by the upright look of the spines near their eyes,[2] and their slightly smaller length.[3] Their body is encased in a rigid box-like carapace composed of large sculptured bony plates; bony ridges with large recurved spines, dorsal and anal fins opposite and far back on the body, and bony plates on tail base absent/rudimentary.[4]

Ornate cowfish are sexually dimorphic; males have yellow or blue lines and spots, while females are plain with orange-brown stripes.[2] These fish are rarely kept as pets by aquarium hobbyists, as stress can cause them to release ostracitoxin from their skin, easily killing other fish in a tank.

References

  1. ↑ "Aracana ornata", FishBase
  2. 1 2 Ornate Cowfish, Aracana ornata (Gray, 1838), Australian Museum
  3. ↑ "Aracana ornata", Encyclopedia of Life
  4. ↑ Dianne J. Bray (2011), Ornate Cowfish, Aracana ornata, archived from the original on 2015-12-22, retrieved 2014-10-07
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