Ostraciidae Temporal range: | |
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Lactophrys bicaudalis | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Tetraodontiformes |
Family: | Ostraciidae Rafinesque, 1810 |
Genera | |
See text. [1] |
Ostraciidae or Ostraciontidae [2] 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.
Members of this family 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. [3] 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.
Ostraciids occur in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans, 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.
The various members of this family are able to secrete cationic surfactants through their skin which can act as a chemical defense mechanism. [4] 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. [5] Pahutoxin is a choline chloride ester of 3-acetoxypalmitic acid [6] that behaves similarly to steroidal saponins found in echinoderms. [5] 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. [7]
The author Keiichi Matsuura lists the following genera and species: [1]
Tetraodontidae is a family of primarily marine and estuarine fish of the order Tetraodontiformes. The family includes many familiar species variously called pufferfish, puffers, balloonfish, blowfish, blowers, blowies, bubblefish, globefish, swellfish, toadfish, toadies, toadle, honey toads, sugar toads, and sea squab. They are morphologically similar to the closely related porcupinefish, which have large external spines.
Bufo is a genus of true toads in the amphibian family Bufonidae. As traditionally defined, it was a wastebasket genus containing a large number of toads from much of the world but following taxonomic reviews most of these have been moved to other genera, leaving only seventeen extant species from Europe, northern Africa and Asia in this genus, including the well-known common toad. Some of the genera that contain species formerly placed in Bufo are Anaxyrus, Bufotes, Duttaphrynus, Epidalea and Rhinella.
Groupers are fish of any of a number of genera in the subfamily Epinephelinae of the family Serranidae, in the order Perciformes.
Moray eels, or Muraenidae, are a family of eels whose members are found worldwide. There are approximately 200 species in 15 genera which are almost exclusively marine, but several species are regularly seen in brackish water, and a few are found in fresh water.
The hooded pitohui is a species of bird in the genus Pitohui found in New Guinea. It was long thought to be a whistler (Pachycephalidae) but is now known to be in the Old World oriole family (Oriolidae). Within the oriole family, this species is most closely related to the variable pitohuis in the genus Pitohui, and then the figbirds.
Batrachotoxin (BTX) is an extremely potent cardio- and neurotoxic steroidal alkaloid found in certain species of beetles, birds, and frogs. The name is from the Greek word βάτραχος, bátrachos, 'frog'. Structurally-related chemical compounds are often referred to collectively as batrachotoxins. In certain frogs, this alkaloid is present mostly on the skin. Such frogs are among those used for poisoning darts. Batrachotoxin binds to and irreversibly opens the sodium channels of nerve cells and prevents them from closing, resulting in paralysis and death. No antidote is known.
The Molidae comprise the family of the molas or ocean sunfishes, unusual fish whose bodies come to an end just behind the dorsal and anal fins, giving them a "half-fish" appearance. They are also the largest of the ray-finned bony fish, with the southern sunfish, Mola alexandrini, recorded at 4.6 m (15 ft) in length and 2,744 kg (6,049 lb) in weight.
Bufotoxins are a family of toxic steroid lactones or substituted tryptamines of which some are toxic. They occur in the parotoid glands, skin, and poison of many toads and other amphibians, and in some plants and mushrooms. The exact composition varies greatly with the specific source of the toxin. It can contain 5-MeO-DMT, bufagins, bufalin, bufotalin, bufotenin, bufothionine, dehydrobufotenine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. Some authors have also used the term bufotoxin to describe the conjugate of a bufagin with suberylarginine.
The honeycomb cowfish belongs to family Ostraciidae. It is also known simply as the trunkfish or cowfish.
The genus Taricha consists of four species of highly toxic newts in the family Salamandridae. Their common name is Pacific newts, sometimes also western newts or roughskin newts. The four species within this genus are the California newt, the rough-skinned newt, the red-bellied newt, and the sierra newt, all of which are found on the Pacific coastal region from southern Alaska to southern California, with one species possibly ranging into northern Baja California, Mexico.
The longhorn cowfish, also called the horned boxfish, is a species of boxfish from the family Ostraciidae, recognizable 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 (20 in) long.
Ostracion is a genus of the boxfish family Ostraciidae. Fish in the genus are known as box puffers. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 and makes a brief appearance in Jules Verne's maritime sci-fi novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea.
Pahutoxin, formerly called ostracitoxin, is a neurotoxin present in the mucous secretions of boxfish (Ostraciidae) skin, while under stress. It is an ichthyotoxic, hemolytic, nonpeptide toxin. It is heat-stable and non-dialyzable, that is, foamed in aqueous solutions, and is toxic to various biological systems. It is unique among known fish poisons. It is toxic to other boxfish as well and looks like red tide and sea cucumber toxins in general properties. Although it is not recommended, it is a growing trend to keep boxfish in a home aquarium. Members of the family Ostraciidae secrete an ichthyotoxic mucus from their skin when stressed or disturbed.
A newt is a salamander in the subfamily Pleurodelinae. The terrestrial juvenile phase is called an eft. Unlike other members of the family Salamandridae, newts are semiaquatic, alternating between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Not all aquatic salamanders are considered newts, however. More than 100 known species of newts are found in North America, Europe, North Africa and Asia. Newts metamorphose through three distinct developmental life stages: aquatic larva, terrestrial juvenile (eft), and adult. Adult newts have lizard-like bodies and return to the water every year to breed, otherwise living in humid, cover-rich land habitats.
The spotted trunkfish is a member of the family Ostraciidae. It lives in reefs throughout the Caribbean, as well as the southwestern Atlantic Ocean. It gets its name from the black spots on its whitish or yellow-golden body. In Caribbean countries, it is colloquially known as the boxfish, cow-fish or shellfish.
Lactophrys triqueter also known as the smooth trunkfish, is a species of boxfish found on and near reefs in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and subtropical parts of the western Atlantic Ocean.
Chemical defense is a strategy employed by many organisms to avoid consumption by producing toxic or repellent metabolites or chemical warnings which incite defensive behavioral changes. The production of defensive chemicals occurs in plants, fungi, and bacteria, as well as invertebrate and vertebrate animals. The class of chemicals produced by organisms that are considered defensive may be considered in a strict sense to only apply to those aiding an organism in escaping herbivory or predation. However, the distinction between types of chemical interaction is subjective and defensive chemicals may also be considered to protect against reduced fitness by pests, parasites, and competitors. Repellent rather than toxic metabolites are allomones, a sub category signaling metabolites known as semiochemicals. Many chemicals used for defensive purposes are secondary metabolites derived from primary metabolites which serve a physiological purpose in the organism. Secondary metabolites produced by plants are consumed and sequestered by a variety of arthropods and, in turn, toxins found in some amphibians, snakes, and even birds can be traced back to arthropod prey. There are a variety of special cases for considering mammalian antipredatory adaptations as chemical defenses as well.
Poisonous amphibians are amphibians that produce toxins to defend themselves from predators.
Lactophrys is a genus of boxfishes native to the western Atlantic Ocean. All trunkfish of the genus Lactophrys, secretes a colorless toxin from glands on its skin when touched. The toxin is only dangerous when ingested, so there is no immediate harm to divers. Predators however, as large as nurse sharks, can die as a result of eating a trunkfish.
Poisonous fish are fish that are poisonous to eat. They contain toxins which are not destroyed by the digestive systems of animals that eat the fish. Venomous fish also contain toxins, but do not necessarily cause poisoning if they are eaten, since the digestive system often destroys their venom.