Ostracion meleagris, Spotted boxfish : fisheries, aquarium

Ostracion meleagris Shaw, 1796

Spotted boxfish
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Ostracion meleagris   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Ostracion meleagris (Spotted boxfish)
Ostracion meleagris
Male Picture by Randall, J.E.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Tetraodontiformes (Puffers and filefishes) > Ostraciidae (Boxfishes)
Etymology: Ostracion: Greek, ostrakon = shell (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Shaw.

Taxonomic Remarks
FishBase common name changed from Whitespotted boxfish to Spotted boxfish (AFS: Ref. 130874).

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 0 - 30 m (Ref. 9710). Tropical; 32°N - 35°S, 24°E - 89°W

Distribution Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Indo-Pacific and Eastern Pacific: East Africa to the Mexico, north to southern Japan and the Hawaiian Islands, south to New Caledonia and the Tuamoto Islands. The subspecies Ostracion meleagris camurum is found in the Hawaiian Islands and Ostracion meleagris clippertonense in the Eastern Pacific. Species replaced by Ostracion cyanurus in Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 25.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 3141)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 9. Juveniles and females brown or green with white spots; large males with orange bands and spots on side of body (Ref. 3141). Caudal fin rays 10 (Ref. 3141). Sexually dimorphic (Ref. 37816).
Body shape (shape guide): short and / or deep.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits clear lagoon and seaward reefs from the lower surge zone to at least 30 meters (Ref. 37816, 48637). Juveniles among rocky boulders, often with long spined urchins, and adults on reef crests and slopes. Males swim about more openly than females that are often in close vicinity to the males (Ref. 48637). Solitary. Feeds on didemnid tunicates, polychaetes, sponges, mollusks, copepods, and algae (Ref. 37816). Minimum depth reported taken from Ref. 128797.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Matsuura, Keiichi | Collaborators

Myers, R.F., 1991. Micronesian reef fishes. Second Ed. Coral Graphics, Barrigada, Guam. 298 p. (Ref. 1602)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2 (Global))

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 14 August 2023

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Venomous





Human uses

Fisheries: subsistence fisheries; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
Recruitment
Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
Spawning
Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Distribution
Territories
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
Gill area
Brain
Otolith
Physiology
Body composition
Nutrients
Oxygen consumption
Swimming type
Swimming speed
Visual pigments
Fish sound
Diseases & Parasites
Toxicity (LC50s)
Genetics
Genome
Genetics
Heterozygosity
Heritability
Genetic Diversity
Human related
Aquaculture systems
Aquaculture profiles
Strains
Ciguatera cases
Stamps, coins, misc.
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Taxonomy
Common names
Synonyms
Morphology
Morphometrics
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References
References

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index
(Ref. 82804) 		PD50 = 0.5020 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight a=0.03715 (0.01854 - 0.07445), b=2.80 (2.62 - 2.98), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level
(Ref. 69278) 		2.7   ±0.00 se; based on food items.
Resilience
(Ref. 120179) 		High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Fec assumed to be > 10,000).
Fishing Vulnerability
(Ref. 59153) 		Low vulnerability (13 of 100). 🛈
Price category
(Ref. 80766) 		High.
Nutrients
(Ref. 124155) 		Calcium = 56.4 [24.5, 121.5] mg/100g; Iron = 0.692 [0.358, 1.530] mg/100g; Protein = 18 [16, 20] %; Omega3 = 0.102 [0.052, 0.195] g/100g; Selenium = 33.1 [17.1, 69.5] μg/100g; VitaminA = 54 [15, 194] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.41 [0.96, 2.12] mg/100g (wet weight);