The Ostraciinae inhabit coral reefs in shallow, calmer zones of tropical seas.
The diet of these species consists of tunicates, sponges, soft corals, crustaceans, worms and algae.
Boxfishes are protected by a bony carapace. They are also rarely round, but rather angular, but just not all. The highly poisonous pyramid boxfish Tetrosomus gibbosus is even triangular when seen from the front.
The body is surrounded by bony plates that have grown together to form a box, and only the mouth and fins are free of the armor. Boxfish swim slowly. Their fins are severely shortened. They are normally slow swimmers, but capable of short, fast swimming strokes.
Interesting here is the once made measurement of the cw value of only 0.06.
Any car can only dream of that. That is why this finding is also incorporated into developments in vehicle construction.
At first glance, the animals seem a bit clumsy, but they are not, on the contrary, they are very agile!
It is amusing to take a closer look at boxfish. The fins, eyes and mouth peek out of the carapace. Around it is skin that looks like a rubber muff. Other than that, there is nothing movable about them. Through the carapace you can't tell if the fish are well fed or emaciated.
Males are territorial and keep a harem of several females. Therefore, they should rather not be kept in a reef aquarium.
Large boxfish are often solitary animals.
Due to their armor they are usually safe from their enemies. They also protect themselves with the toxic ostracitoxin in their skin.
Important for socialization
Boxfish, when they die, can secrete a potent toxin that could be the undoing of the rest of the animals living in the aquarium. In most cases, it leads to the death of the co-occupants.
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