Common Name: Black Boxfish

Distribution: Uncommon in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific and Eastern Pacific regions: from East Africa to Mexico, north to southern Japan and the Hawaiian Islands, south to New Caledonia and the Tuamoto Islands. In Australia recorded from Exmouth region of Western Australia across the North West Shelf, the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef in Queensland south to central New South Wales and including Lord Howe Island.

Ecological Notes: Frequents clear lagoon and seaward reefs, including reef crests and slopes. Juveniles among rocky boulders, often with long spined sea urchins. Depth to 30 m.

Additional Notes: Males distinctly coloured with blue sides and face, black dorsal surface with evenly spaced small white spots. Juveniles dark with small white spots. Mature male in top photograph, immature below. Grows to about 25 cm.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.456.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=ostracion+meleagris. Accessed 20/06/18.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Ostracion-meleagris.html. Accessed 20/06/18.