Find a Fish
Yellow Boxfish
Ostracion cubicus Linnaeus, 1758
Hi,
I'm a university student from Wollongong University in N.S.W. My mother, a professional artist and keen naturalist accidentally caught a tiny fish in our local rock pool. We and many others have had trouble in identifying what type of fish it actually is and we were hoping that you may be of some assistance. The photograph I have attached was taken with a macro lens, and the actual size of the fish is around 1/4 of an inch in length with a hard outer body.
- It is capable of changing body colour from pale silver, to bright gold.
- It is spherical in shape.
- No tail, the mouth is to the right of screen, and two tiny transparent fins are on its rear, to the left of screen.
Regards,
Michael Taylor
Michael and Jennifer,
It is a good photo and it shows your fish is a juvenile Yellow Boxfish, Ostracion cubicus. These little guys are spawned up north and frequently are carried into our cooler waters on the East Australian Current. They rarely survive the winter in this area. Kuiter's Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia (Crawford House Publishers) has some photos, as do many books on more tropical marine fishes. Like many coral-reef fishes, the juvenile colouration is very different from that of the adult.
Cheers, Jeff Leis
Further reading
- Follow-up letter on the distribution of the Yellow Boxfish
- Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 433.
- Kuiter, R.H. 1993. Coastal Fishes of South-Eastern Australia. Crawford House Press. Pp. 437.
