genus
Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
ray-finned fishes
Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class (biology), class of Osteichthyes, bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built ...
belonging to the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Ostraciidae
Ostraciidae or Ostraciontidae is a family of squared, Actinopterygii, bony fish belonging to the order Tetraodontiformes, closely related to the pufferfishes and filefishes. Fish in the family are known variously as boxfishes, cofferfishes, cowfi ...
, the boxfishes. These fishes are found in the Atlantic Ocean.
Taxonomy
''Acanthostracion'' was first proposed as a subgenus of ''
Ostracion
''Ostracion'' is a genus of Marine life, marine Actinopterygii, ray-finned fishes belonging to the Family (biology), family Ostraciidae, the boxfishes. These fishes are found in the Indo-Pacific region as far east as the eastern Pacific coasts of ...
'' in 1865 by the Dutch
physician
A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...
,
herpetologist
Herpetology (from Ancient Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is a branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, salamanders, and caecilians (Gymnophiona)) and reptiles (in ...
and
ichthyologist
Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...
Pieter Bleeker
Pieter Bleeker (10 July 1819 – 24 January 1878) was a Dutch medical doctor, Ichthyology, ichthyologist, and Herpetology, herpetologist. He was famous for the ''Atlas Ichthyologique des Indes Orientales Néêrlandaises'', his monumental work on ...
. Bleeker did not designate a
type species
In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
when he first used the name in his paper ''Notice sur les ostracions, confondus sous le nom d'Ostracion quadricornis L. et description des ''Ostracion notacanthus'' et ''guineensis'' '' but designated ''Ostracion quadricornis'' as the type species later in 1865 when he published his ''Atlas ichthyologique des Indes Orientalis Neerlandais''. The 5th edition of ''
Fishes of the World
''Fishes of the World'' is a standard reference for the systematics of fishes. It was first written in 1976 by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011). Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of t ...
'' classifies this genus within the family Ostraciidae in the
suborder
Order () is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and recognized ...
Ostracioidea
Ostracioidea or Ostracioidei, the boxfishes, is a suborder of ray-finned fishes belonging to the order Tetraodontiformes, which also includes the pufferfishes, filefishes and triggerfishes. The fishes in this taxon are found in the Atlantic, India ...
within the
order
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
...
Tetraodontiformes
Tetraodontiformes (), also known as the Plectognathi, is an order of ray-finned fishes which includes the pufferfishes and related taxa. This order has been classified as a suborder of the order Perciformes, although recent studies have found ...
.
Etymology
''Acanthostracion'' combines ''acanthus'', which means "spine" or "thorn", with ''ostracion''. Bleeker originally proposed this taxon as a subgenus of the genus ''
Ostracion
''Ostracion'' is a genus of Marine life, marine Actinopterygii, ray-finned fishes belonging to the Family (biology), family Ostraciidae, the boxfishes. These fishes are found in the Indo-Pacific region as far east as the eastern Pacific coasts of ...
Bleeker Bleeker is a Dutch occupational surname. Bleeker is an old spelling of ''(linnen)bleker'' ("linen bleacher").Acanthostracion notacanthus'' (
Bleeker Bleeker is a Dutch occupational surname. Bleeker is an old spelling of ''(linnen)bleker'' ("linen bleacher").Acanthostracion polygonius
The honeycomb cowfish (''Acanthostracion polygonius''), is a species of Marine life, marine Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish belonging to the Family (biology), family Ostraciidae, the boxfishes. This fish is found in the Western Atlantic Ocean.
...
Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
,
1758
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the starting point of modern zoologic ...
) (Scrawled cowfish)
Characteristics
''Acanthosracion'' cowfishes have an oblong, boroad body which is encased within a bony carapace made up of thickened, typically hexagonal plate-like scales whichare sutured together. This carapce does not enclose the mouth, eyes, gill slits, fins and the
caudal peduncle
Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...
and
caudal fin
Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...
although it does encircle the bases of the
dorsal
Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to:
* Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism
* Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage
The fus ...
and
anal fin
Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...
s. There are large spine which preject in front of the eyes. There are also spines at the lower rear angle of the carapace and the rearmost plate-like scales on the upper and lower caudal peduncle are expanded into small spines. The small mouth sits at the friont of the snout and it has fleshy lips and around 15 moderately sized conical teeth in each jaw. These cowfishes have maximum published
total length
Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies, for data used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fishery biology.
Overall length
Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish measured f ...
s from in the West African cowfish to in the
scrawled cowfish
The scrawled cowfish (''Acanthostracion quadricornis'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Ostraciidae, the boxfishes. This species is found in the Western Atlantic Ocean.
Taxonomy
The scrawled cowfish was first form ...
.
Distribution
''Acanthosracion'' cowfishes are restricted to the Atlantic Ocean with two Western Atlantic species distributed from
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
to Brazil in the Western Atlanticand two species in the eastern Atlantic off West Africa, as well as the
Azores
The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...
,
Saint Helena
Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory.
Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...
, and
Ascension Island
Ascension Island is an isolated volcanic island, 7°56′ south of the Equator in the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic Ocean. It is about from the coast of Africa and from the coast of South America. It is governed as part of the British Overs ...