Acanthostracion polygonius
No common name
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Tetraodontiformes (Pufferfishes and Allies)
Ostraciidae (Boxfishes)
Acanthostracion
Acanthostracion polygonius
Description
This species account was compiled from
McEachran & Fechhelm (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
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Characters
Spine anterior to eye and spine on each side of anal fin; bony armor complete behind dorsal fin base; mouth low on head; jaw teeth incisor-like with sharp-pointed cusps in a single row; anterior naris at end of moderately short tube; posterior naris at end of short tube; eye projects slightly above dorsal margin of head; preorbital spine well developed; gill opening slightly longer than pectoral fin base; gill rakers on first arch 11-14; head length 25%-27% SL; snout length 20%-23% SL; eye diameter 7%-8% SL; pectoral fin length 17%-19% SL; maximum body depth 43%-47% SL; pectoral fin with 12 or 13 (usually 13) rays; dorsal, anal, and caudal fins each with 10 rays; carapace mostly hexagonal bony plates with small, concentrically arranged tubercles and lines of tubercles radiating from geometric centers; ventral ridge of carapace with spine extending beyond level of anal fin origin
Olivaceous with dark reticulate pattern on head and dark polygonal or hexagonal rings on bony plates on body
Distribution
Western Atlantic from New Jersey and Bermuda to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, and the Antilles
In the Gulf of Mexico it occurs off Florida, 25°16'N, 83°37'W
Habitat Associations
Reefs in shallow water
Biology
Food consists of sponges, tunicates, alcyonarians, and shrimps
Maximum known size is 480 mm TL
References
Tyler 1965 (as Lactophrys polygonius)
Böhlke and Chaplin 1968 (as L. polygonius)
Randall 1968a, 1996 (as L. polygonius)
Robins and Ray 1986 (as L. polygonia)
Smith 1997 (as L. polygonius)
Smith-Vaniz et al. 1999 (as L. polygonius)
Matsuura 2002d
Comments On Acanthostracion polygonius