General Information

COMMON NAMES: Spotted Boxfish, Spotted Trunkfish, Mulit-spotted Trunkfish, Box, White-spotted Boxfish [female]; German Weisspunkt-Kofferfisch; French Poisson-coffre Pintade TRADITIONAL NAMES: Moamoa (MG AT MK TS TW PK), Ueue (MT), Maomao Po‘aki (AK), U‘e (PL); Other Polynesian - Momoa (TAH) GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE e.Africa - Tuamotus, Hawai‘i - tropical America; n. to s.Japan; s. to New Caledonia COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; S.Group and N.Group. (RR, AT, AK, PL, MH) PLUS:; Marine, near-shore, lagoon and outer reef-slope to 20+m SIGNIFICANCE LIST: Not eaten. KEY FEATURES: A toxic slow-swimming fish with a rigid boxlike body to 18cm. Female brown with white spots; male brown with white spots on top and blue with orange spots on the sides. Indian and Pacific Oceans to Tuamotus. Lagoons and outer reefs to about 30m.

Cook Islands Distribution

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Southern Group: Present    Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
P	^P	P	^P		P	P

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
	P		P

Ostracion meleagris Shaw, 1796
SYNONYMS: Ostracion meleagris meleagris [most of range incl. Cooks]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; CHORDATA; GNATHOSTOMATA (Jawed Vertebrates); PISCES; OSTEICHTHYES; Tetraodontiformes; Tetraodontoidei; Ostracioidea; OSTRACIIDAE

IDENTIFICATION: To 18cm SL.; sexually dimorphic - males are probably sex-reversed females. Body box-like, with concave sides and convex top and bottom; face blunt, eye large. FEMALES dark brown with small white spots; fins and tail without spots. MALE dorsally brown with white spots, sides blue with yellow-orange spots with a dark edge; face blue without spots.

GENERAL NOTE: For Boxfishes the dominant males have large territories containing non-territorial females and subordinate males. When boxfishes are under stress they can secrete a substance (ostracitoxin) that is highly toxic to other fishes.

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: field sighting Ngatangiia pass. ID N.Sims (Sims88). Mangaia: specimen, College, 9/2000, ID GMcC. Atiu: field sighting ID N.Sims (Sims88). Mauke: fieldspecimen, College, 3/2001, ID GMcC. Aitutaki: field sighting ID N.Sims (Sims88). Palmerston: Listed (Preston95). Manihiki: field sighting ID N.Sims (Sims88). Pukapuka: informant reports at NBSAP meeting, 2/2004.

References:
text p.265 Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
plate 140e Myers (1991 2nd Ed.) Fishes of Micronesia
p.469 Randall et al. (1990) Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef....
p.642 Burgess et al. (1988) Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (TFH)
plate 136-01 Lieske & Myers (1996) Coral Reef Fishes
plate 103-04 Allen (1997) Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia....

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02

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