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Lactoria diaphana (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

Roundbelly cowfish
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Lactoria diaphana   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Lactoria diaphana (Roundbelly cowfish)
Lactoria diaphana
Picture by Randall, J.E.

New Caledonia country information

Common names: [No common name]
Occurrence: native
Salinity: marine
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments: Occurs in St. Vincent Bay (Ref. 9070). Recorded from the Chesterfield Is. (Ref. 11897). Caught by a fish trawl (Ref. 50314). Also Ref. 1602.
National Checklist:
Country Information: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/the-world-factbook/geos/nc.html
National Fisheries Authority:
Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
Main Ref: Wantiez, L., 1993
National Database:

Common names from other countries

Round-belly cowfish, Transparent boxfish, Cow, ... more

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Tetraodontiformes (Puffers and filefishes) > Ostraciidae (Boxfishes)
Etymology: Lactoria: Latin, concerned with milk (Ref. 45335).
  More on authors: Bloch & Schneider.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; brackish; reef-associated; depth range 8 - 50 m (Ref. 9806).   Subtropical; 35°N - 28°S

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Southeast Atlantic: off Swakopmund, Namibia (Ref. 11228). Indo-Pacific and Eastern Pacific: South Africa east through Indonesia to the Easter Island and Peru, north to southern Japan, Hawaii, and southern California, south to New Caledonia, New South Wales and Kermadec Islands (Ref. 8879).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 34.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 583)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 9. Small spine on back and short spines before eyes (Ref. 3141). Caudal fin rays 10 (Ref. 1602).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabit coral and rocky reefs of coastal areas (Ref. 9806, 48637). Also common on offshore sand and mudflats (Ref. 48637). Young fish occur in oceanic waters, at or near the surface (Ref. 2850); semi-transparent young may enter estuaries (Ref. 3141). Benthopelagic (Ref. 58302). Feed on benthic invertebrates (Ref. 9806). A large number of juveniles were found in the stomachs of flatheads (Ref. 48637).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Matsuura, Keiichi | Collaborators

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)

  Not Evaluated 

CITES (Ref. 128078)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Venomous




Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest; aquarium: commercial
FAO(Publication : search) | FishSource |

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Internet sources

Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | GOBASE | | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | National databases | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 22.3 - 29, mean 27.7 (based on 844 cells).
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5625   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.03548 (0.01700 - 0.07404), b=2.81 (2.62 - 3.00), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.3   ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Fec assumed to be > 10,000).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (24 of 100).