Thornback Boxfish
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Thornback boxfish ( Lactoria fornasini ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Lactoria fornasini | ||||||||||||
| ( Bianconi , 1846) |
The thorn-back boxfish ( Lactoria fornasini ), also called the back- thorn boxfish , lives in the tropical Indo-Pacific from east and South Africa to southern Japan , Hawaii , Rapa Iti and Lord Howe Island . It prefers zones with sand or gravel in lagoons and on outer reefs , at depths of two to 130 meters and always stays close to the ground.
features
A large thorn in the middle of the back is characteristic of the species. The fish are ocher to light brown, territorial males are yellow with blue lines. The polygonal edges of the bone plates that make up the shell are often clearly visible. Thornback boxfish grow to be 23 to 25 centimeters long.
Fin formula : dorsal 9, anal 9, caudal 10
Reproduction
The males of the thornback boxfish are strictly territorial and claim an area of about 500 m². In the area they live with a harem of up to four non-territorial females and sometimes a few young males. The reproduction of this species has been well researched. Mating takes place shortly after sunset, at dusk. The couple swims upwards in an arc synchronously next to each other. The male makes a humming sound. Eggs and sperm are expelled at the zenith of the swim. Some male thornback boxfish also spawn with the females of the neighboring territories by sneaking into the foreign territory in the color of the female and, if they encounter a female ready to spawn there, switch back to the more conspicuous male costume and spawn with the female.
literature
- Baensch, Patzner: Mergus Sea Water Atlas Volume 6 Non-Perciformes (non-perch-like) . Mergus-Verlag, Melle, ISBN 3-88244-116-X
- Ewald Lieske, Robert F. Myers: Coral fish of the world . Year Top Special Verlag Hamburg, ISBN 3-86132-112-2
- Dieter Eichler, Robert F. Myers: Coral fish Indo-Pacific . Jahr-Verlag GmbG & Co., ISBN 3-86132-225-0
Web links
- Thornback Boxfish on Fishbase.org (English)