LONGHORN COWFISH

 LONGHORN COWFISH


The Longhorn Cowfish, also called the Horned Boxfish, is a species of boxfish from the family Ostraciidae, recognized by its long horns that protrude from the front of its head rather like those of a cow or bull. They are a resident of the Indo-Pacific region and can grow up to 50 cm long. Adults are reef fish, often solitary and territorial, and live around sand or rubble bottom up to a depth of 50 m. They are omnivorous, feeding upon benthic algae, various microorganisms and foraminiferans that it strains from sediments, sponges, polychaete worms from sand flats, mollusks, small crustaceans and small fish, benthic invertebrates by blowing jets of water into the sandy substrate.

If severely stressed, this species may be able to exude a deadly toxin, pahutoxin, an ichthyotoxic, hemolytic, heat-stable, non-dialyzable, non-protein poison that is present in the mucous membranes of their skin. It is apparently unique among known fish poisons; it is toxic to the boxfish and mimics sea cucumber toxins in general properties.

Longhorn Cowfish have no pelvic skeleton and so they lack pelvic fins. They are such slow swimmers that cowfishes are easily caught by hand. They make a grunting noise, almost like that of a cow, when captured. This is the most well-known cowfish species in the aquarium trade.

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