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Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Superclassis/Classis: Actinopterygii
Classis/Subclassis: Actinopteri
Subclassis/Infraclassis: Neopterygii
Infraclassis: Teleostei
Megacohors: Osteoglossocephalai
Supercohors: Clupeocephala
Cohors: Euteleosteomorpha
Subcohors: Neoteleostei
Infracohors: Eurypterygia
Sectio: Ctenosquamata
Subsectio: Acanthomorphata
Divisio/Superordo: Acanthopterygii
Subdivisio: Percomorphaceae
Series: Eupercaria
Ordo: Tetraodontiformes

Familia: Ostraciidae
Genera: Acanthostracion - Lactophrys - Lactoria - Ostracion - ParacanthostracionRhinesomusTetrosomus

Name

Ostracidae Rafinesque, 1810
References

Rafinesque, C.S. 1810. Indice d'ittiologia siciliana; ossia, catalogo metodico dei nomi latini, italiani, e siciliani dei pesci, che si rinvengono in Sicilia disposti secondo un metodo naturale e seguito da un appendice che contiene la descrizione de alcuni nuovi pesci siciliani. Messina. 1-70, Pls. 1-2.
Santini, F., Sorenson, L., Marcroft, T., Dornburg, A. & Alfaro, M.E. 2012. 126A multilocus molecular phylogeny of boxfishes (Aracanidae, Ostraciidae; Tetraodontiformes). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, Available online 2 October 2012, In Press, Accepted Manuscript, abstract
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2006. FishBase, version (02/2006). [1]

Vernacular names
беларуская: Кузаўковыя
English: Boxfish
日本語: ハコフグ科
ไทย: ปลาวัวกล่้อง, ปลาปักเป้ากล่อง

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 prposed 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
Tetrosomus gibbosus
Lactoria fornasini
Lactophrys triqueter

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

Extant taxa

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

Acanthostracion Bleeker, 1865
Lactophrys Swainson, 1839
Lactoria D. S. Jordan & Fowler, 1902
Ostracion Linnaeus, 1758
Paracanthostracion Whitley, 1933
Tetrosomus Swainson, 1839

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.
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.
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.
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.

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