Honeycomb boxfish
| Honeycomb boxfish | ||||||||||||
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Honeycomb boxfish in the Caribbean near Bonaire . |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Acanthostracion polygonius | ||||||||||||
| Poey , 1876 |
The honeycomb boxfish ( Acanthostracion polygonius ) lives in the tropical, western Atlantic , from New Jersey and Bermuda to the coast of Brazil and in the Caribbean , but not in the Gulf of Mexico . With the Gulf Stream specimens are drifted to the coast of New England .
features
The fish can reach a maximum length of 50 cm, but usually stick to a length of 25 cm. On a yellowish background they show a pattern of five- to seven-cornered, closely spaced spots that are bordered by thin dark lines. The ventral side is purple. There are two spines above the eyes.
Way of life
The fish live far from the coast as solitary animals and prefer to stay at depths of 3 to 80 meters over coral and rock reefs . They feed on various invertebrates, such as sea anemones , shrimp , sponges , gorgonians and sea squirts .
literature
- Ewald Lieske, Robert F. Myers: Coral fish of the world . 1994, year publisher, ISBN 3-86132-112-2
Web links
- Acanthostracion polygonius on Fishbase.org (English)