Acanthostracion polygonium, Honeycomb cowfish : fisheries, aquarium

Acanthostracion polygonium Poey, 1876

Honeycomb cowfish
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Image of Acanthostracion polygonium (Honeycomb cowfish)
Acanthostracion polygonium
Picture by NOAA\NMFS\Mississippi Laboratory

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

Teleostei (teleosts) > Tetraodontiformes (Puffers and filefishes) > Ostraciidae (Boxfishes)
Etymology: Acanthostracion: Greek, akantha = thorn + Greek, ostrakon = shell (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Poey.

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

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 3 - 80 m (Ref. 9710). Tropical; 42°N - 35°S, 99°W - 34°W

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

Western Atlantic: New Jersey, USA and Bermuda to Brazil, including the Caribbean and Antilles. Occurs in the Gulf of Mexico, off Florida, 25° 16'N, 83° 37'W (Ref.78464).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 50.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 36453); common length : 25.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5217); max. published weight: 152.40 g (Ref. 118626)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Bold pattern of hexagons outlined by narrow dark lines; centers and areas between hexagons pale (Ref. 26938). Purplish blue on sides and ventrally (Ref. 13442).
Body shape (shape guide): short and / or deep.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs in clear water around coral reefs. Feeds on sponges, alcyonarians, tunicates, and shrimp. Uncommon and wary (Ref. 9710). Consumed fresh, generally roasted (Ref. 5217).

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

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

Smith-Vaniz, W.F., B.B. Collette and B.E. Luckhurst, 1999. Fishes of Bermuda: history, zoogeography, annotated checklist, and identification keys. American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 4. 424 p. (Ref. 35505)

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

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 07 June 2011

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 30303)





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; 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
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Abundance
Life cycle
Reproduction
Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
Fecundity
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Spawning aggregations
Eggs
Egg development
Larvae
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Distribution
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BRUVS - Videos
Anatomy
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Physiology
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Nutrients
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Swimming type
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Visual pigments
Fish sound
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Genetics
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Human related
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Aquaculture profiles
Strains
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Stamps, coins, misc.
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Taxonomy
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Synonyms
Morphology
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References
References

Tools

Bio-Quiz | E-book | Field guide | Identification keys | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Catch-MSY |

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

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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 |