Lactoria diaphana Diaphanous Box-fish, Diaphanous Cowfish, Round-belly Cowfish, Thorny-back Cowfish, Translucent Boxfish, Transparent Boxfish

Lactoria diaphana is commonly referred to as Diaphanous Box-fish, Diaphanous Cowfish, Round-belly Cowfish, Thorny-back Cowfish, Translucent Boxfish, Transparent Boxfish. Difficulty in the aquarium: Only for advanced aquarists. Toxicity: Has a poison harmful to health.

Profile

lexID:

10966 

AphiaID:

219903 

Scientific:

Lactoria diaphana 

German:

Dornen-Kofferfisch 

English:

Diaphanous Box-fish, Diaphanous Cowfish, Round-belly Cowfish, Thorny-back Cowfish, Translucent Boxfish, Transparent Boxfish 

Category:

Boxfishes/Cowfishes 

Family tree:

Animalia (Kingdom) > Chordata (Phylum) > Actinopterygii (Class) > Tetraodontiformes (Order) > Ostraciidae (Family) > Lactoria (Genus) > diaphana (Species) 

Initial determination:

(Bloch & Schneider, ), 1801 

Occurrence:

El Salvador, Australia, Bali, Bass Strait, Chile, Columbia, Costa Rica, East Africa, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), Eastern Pacific Ocean, Ecuador, Guam, Guatemala, Gulf of California, Hawaii, Honduras, Indo Pacific, Indonesia, Japan, Lord Howe Island, Mauritius, Mexico (East Pacific), Micronesia, Mozambique, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Ogasawara Islands, Palau, Panama, Papua, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Queensland (Australia), South-Africa, Sumatra, Taiwan, Tasman Sea, Tasmania (Australia), the Kermadec Islands, Tonga, USA, Western Indian Ocean 

Marine Zone:

Subtidal, sublittoral, infralittoral, deep zone of the oceans from the lower limit of the intertidal zone (intertidal) to the shelf edge at about 200 m water depth. neritic. 

Sea depth:

8 - 50 Meter 

Habitats:

Brackish water, Coastal waters, Coral reefs, Estuaries (river mouths), Mud flat, Reef-associated, Rocky reefs, Sandy sea floors, Seawater, Sea water 

Size:

up to 13.39" (34 cm) 

Temperature:

22,3 °F - 84.2 °F (22,3°C - 29°C) 

Food:

Carnivore, Frozen Food (large sort), Frozen food (small sorts), Invertebrates, Krill, Living Food, Mysis, Predatory, Zoobenthos 

Difficulty:

Only for advanced aquarists 

Offspring:

None 

Toxicity:

Has a poison harmful to health 

CITES:

Not evaluated 

Red List:

Least concern (LC)  

Related species at
Catalog of Life:

• 
  Lactoria cornuta
  Gehörnter Kuhkofferfisch
• 
  Lactoria diaphana
  Dornen-Kofferfisch
• 
  Lactoria fornasini
  Dornrücken-Kofferfisch
• Lactoria paschae

 

Author:

Meerwasser-Lexikon Team

Publisher:

Meerwasser-Lexikon.de

Created:

2017-08-11 18:04:20 

Last edit:

2026-03-08 20:30:51 

Toxicity

This is a general hint!
Lactoria diaphana has a harmful toxin.
As a rule, animals with a harmful poison do not pose mortal danger in normal Aquarieaner everyday life. Read the following husbandry information and comments from aquarists who already keep Lactoria diaphana in their aquarium to get a better picture about the possible danger. However, please be careful when using Lactoria diaphana. Every human reacts differently to poisons.
If you suspect that you have come into contact with the poison, please contact your doctor or the poison emergency call.
The phone number of the poison emergency call can be found here:
[overview_and_url_DE]
Overview Europe: European Association of Poisons Centres and Clinical Toxicologists

Info

Pictures

Juvenile

Commonly

1

Husbandry know-how of owners