Yellow boxfish

The yellow boxfish (Ostracion cubicus) is a species of boxfish. It

can be found in reefs throughout the Pacific Ocean and Indian Yellow boxfish
Ocean as well as the south eastern Atlantic Ocean. It reaches a
maximum length of 45 centimeters(18 in.)

As the name suggests, it is box-shaped. Boxfish are also known for

their armored and rigid body which in most cases would inhibit
locomotion. This disadvantage is offset by the boxfish's carapace
shape which is much more advantageous for its evolved style of
swimming- ostraciiform locomotion.[1] When juvenile, it is bright
yellow in color. As it ages, the brightness fades and very old
specimens will have blue-grey to black colouration with faded Scientific classification
yellow. It feeds mainly on algae, but will also feed on sponges,
Kingdom: Animalia
crustaceans and molluscs.
Phylum: Chordata
The fish's diet consists of marine algae, worms, crustaceans,
molluscs, and small fish.[2] Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Tetraodontiformes
When stressed or injured it releases the neurotoxin tetrodoxin
(TTX) from its skin that may prove lethal to the fish in the Family: Ostraciidae
surrounding waters.[3] The bright yellow color and black spots are a Genus: Ostracion
form of warning coloration (Aposematism) to any potential
predators.[4] Species: O. cubicus
Binomial name
They are solitary animals. Breeding occurs during the spring, in
small groups that consist of 1 male and 2 - 4 females.[5] Ostracion cubicus
Linnaeus, 1758
In 2006, Mercedes-Benz unveiled its Bionic concept car, which
was inspired by the shape of the yellow boxfish.[6] It was assumed Synonyms
that due to the extreme agility with which boxfish maneuver, that
their shape was aerodynamic and self stabilizing. However, analysis Ostracion tuberculatus
by scientists suggests that boxfish agility is instead due to the Linnaeus, 1758
combination of an aerodynamically unstable body and the manner
in which the fish use their fins for movement.[7] Ostracion argus Rüppel, 1828

References
1. Santini, Francesco (2013). "A multilocus molecular phylogeny of boxfishes (Aracanidae,
Ostraciidae; Tetraodontiformes)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. Elsevier. 66 (1): 153–
160. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2012.09.022 (https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.ympev.2012.09.022).
PMID 23036494 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23036494).
2. Lougher, Tristan (2006). What Fish?: A Buyer's Guide to Marine Fish. Interpet Publishing.
p. 182. ISBN 978-0-7641-3256-8. "What does it eat? In the wild, mainly marine algae, worms,
crustaceans, molluscs, and small fish."
 3. Nagashima, Y., Ohta, A., Yin, X., Ishizaki, S., Matsumoto, T.,
Doi, H. and Ishibashi, T. (2018). Difference in Uptake of
Tetrodotoxin and Saxitoxins into Liver Tissue Slices among
Pufferfish, Boxfish and Porcupinefish. Marine Drugs, 16(1),
p.17.
4. Kalmanzon, E., Zlotkin, E., & Aknin-Herrmann, R. (1999).
Protein-Surfactant interactions in the defensive skin
secretion of the Red Sea trunkfish Ostracion cubicus
Marine Biology, 135 (1), 141-146 DOI:
10.1007/s002270050611
Yellow boxfish being sold in a
5. * Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2006). "Ostracion restaurant in Jakarta
cubicus" (http://www.fishbase.org/summary/SpeciesSumm
ary.php?genusname=Ostracion&speciesname=cubicus) in
FishBase. November 2006 version.
6. Phenix, M. Mercedes' fish-inspired car. (http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/03/08/cars.fish.popsci/
index.html) CNN Technology. March 15, 2007.
7. Buehler, Jake (11 March 2015). "A Real Drag: Mercedes-Benz modeled a car on the boxfish.
Only it completely misunderstood the boxfish" (http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_scienc
e/science/2015/03/mercedes_benz_bionic_car_boxfish_stability_and_agility_paradox_finally_
solved.html). Slate. Retrieved 11 March 2015.

External links
Information, images and videos of the yellow boxfish (http://www.strangeanimals.info/2014/05/y
ellow-box-fish.html)
Photos of Yellow boxfish (https://sealifecollection.org/taxon/219911) on Sealife Collection

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This page was last edited on 7 September 2020, at 02:34 (UTC).

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