Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Ecology
Marine; reef-associated; depth range 37 - 110 m (Ref. 11441). Tropical
Indo-West Pacific: Red Sea (Ref. 3141) and East Africa to Indonesia, north to southern Japan, south to northern Australia. Immigrated into the southeastern Mediterranean through the Suez Canal.
Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ? range ? - ? cm
Max length : 30.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9806); common length : 20.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9661)
Inhabits deep coastal slopes and sheltered muddy substrates, usually in deep water offshore, but occasionally shallow near seagrass beds with silty rubble substrates (Ref. 48637). Usually occurs in sandy bottoms in coastal waters. Solitary (Ref. 90102). Feeds on benthic invertebrates. Generally considered as trash fish; not consumed. Its flesh and organs are poisonous (IUCN, http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/154933/0) however,
Life cycle and mating behavior
Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae
Matsuura, K., 2001. Ostraciidae. Boxfishes. p. 3948-3951. In K.E. Carpenter and V. Niem (eds.) FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific. Vol. 6. Bony fishes part 4 (Labridae to Latimeriidae), estuarine crocodiles. FAO, Rome. (Ref. 9806)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2024-1)
Threat to humans
Venomous
Human uses
Fisheries: minor commercial; aquarium: potential
Tools
Special reports
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Internet sources
Estimates based on models
Preferred temperature (Ref.
123201): 22.2 - 28.2, mean 26.9 °C (based on 480 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref.
82804): PD
50 = 0.5625 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.04898 (0.02799 - 0.08571), b=2.74 (2.58 - 2.90), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref.
93245).
Trophic level (Ref.
69278): 3.1 ±0.23 se; based on food items.
Resilience (Ref.
120179): High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Fec assumed to be > 10,000).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref.
59153): Low vulnerability (20 of 100).
Nutrients (Ref.
124155): Calcium = 44.1 [18.9, 108.3] mg/100g; Iron = 0.624 [0.321, 1.403] mg/100g; Protein = 18.3 [16.1, 20.4] %; Omega3 = 0.124 [0.064, 0.235] g/100g; Selenium = 42.6 [21.8, 87.9] μg/100g; VitaminA = 52.4 [15.2, 188.7] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.09 [0.74, 1.61] mg/100g (wet weight);
