Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Ostracion meleagris
pez caja manchado, pez caja pacifico, Spotted boxfish, Pacific boxfish, spotted trunkfish, blue boxfish
Size: Lengths to at least 18 cm
Habitat: Quite, shallow waters over reefs
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Teleostei
Order
Tetraodontiformes
Family
Ostraciidae
Genus
Ostracion
Species
meleagris
Taxon category: Accepted
Syn.: Ostracion camurum Jenkins, 1901, Ostracion clippertonense Snodgrass & Heller, 1905, Ostracion lentiginosus Bloch & Schneider, 1801 (junior synonym), Ostracion meleagris meleagris Shaw, 1796, Ostracion punctatus Bloch & Schneider, 1801, Ostracion sebae Bleeker, 1851, fide Appeltans et al. (2010)
Origin: Native
Distribution: Box-like exoskeleton. Male - Often gold band between eyes; back black to reddish brown or gold; no spots on head. Female - Navy blue to back. circumtropical; in the eastern Pacific only known from Bajo California, Mexico, and Clipperton, Revillagigedos and Galapagos
- Grove, J.S. Lavenberg, R.J. (1997) The Fishes of the Galapagos Islands. Stanford University Press, Stanford California. 862 pp.
- Humann, P. Deloach, N. (2003) Reef Fish Identification - Galapagos. New World Publication, Inc. Florida USA & Libri Mundi, Quito, Ecuador, 226 pp.
- Appeltans, W. Bouchet, P., Boxshall, G.A., Fauchald, K., Gordon, D.P., Hoeksema, B.W., Poore, G.C.B., van Soest, R.W.M., Stöhr, S., Walter, T.C., Costello, M.J. (eds.) (2010) World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). Available online at http://www.marinespecies.org.
- IUCN (2010) IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 26 April 2010.
- McCosker, J.E. Rosenblatt, R.H. (2010) The fishes of the Galápagos Archipelago: an update. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sc., Ser. 4, vol. 61, Suppl. II, no. 11: 167-195.
- Edgar, G.J. Fariña, J.M., Calvopiña, M., Martínez, C. & Banks, S. (2002) Comunidades submareales rocosas II: Peces y macroinvertebrados móviles. In: Danulat, E. & Edgar, G.J. (eds.) (2002): Reserva Marina de Galápagos. Línea Base de la Biodiversidad. Fundación Charles Darwin/Servicio Parque Nacional Galápagos, Santa Cruz, Galápagos, Ecuador, p. 68-97.
- Banks, S. Vera, M. & Chiriboga, A. (2009) Establishing Reference Points to Assess Long-Term Change in Zooxanthellate Coral Communities of the Northern Galapagos Coral Reefs. J. Sci. Conserv. in the Galapagos Islands, p. 43-64.
- Constant, P. (2007) Marine Life of the Galapagos. The Diver's guide to Fishes, Whales, Dolphins and marine Invertebrates, 307 pp.
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.
This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Ostracion meleagris", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=7831. Accessed 25 April 2025.