Facts
| Latin name | Lactophrys bicaudalis |
| Common name | Spotted trunkfish |
| Family | Ostraciidae - Lactophrys |
| Origin | West Indian Ocean, The Mexican Golf, West Atlantic |
| Max length | 48 cm (18.9") |
As aquarium fish
Food
| Mostly |
|
Poisonous skin
This species has a toxin in its skin, which it releases when highly stressed or dying.
This poison can kill all the aquatic life in the aquarium, if unlucky.
Insufficient information
There is little available knowledge of this species, so there can be important information missing on this page.
Family description (Ostraciidae)
Boxfish(Ostraciidae) have a unique square shape and a particular way of swimming.
They have a rather special personality, which one quickly comes to love.
Boxfish live typically off a mixture of algae, coral polyps, zooplankton, and in some cases crustaceans.
They are not normally reef safe and when small will require gentle water circulation.
Boxfish can secrete a poison when stressed or if they die, which can in the worst case, kill the contents of a whole aquarium.
Never use the water the fish was transported in.
References and further reading
Bob Fenner. The Puffers Called Box-, Cowfishes, family Ostraciidae - Wet Web Media - (English)
Richard Aspinall. 2012. Oddballs for the Marine Aquarium - Tropical Fish Hobbyist - (English)
Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2014. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version (08/2014).
