Longhorn Cowfish Lactoria cornuta

The Longhorn Cowfish is a Boxfish native to sheltered reefs in the Indian, western Pacific and Southeast Atlantic Oceans. It is named after its cow-like "horns".

The Longhorn Cowfish has a squarish body armoured with fused, hexagonal plates and also has two horns protruding at the back. It swims slowly with limited mobility. It grows to 50cm long. It is mainly solitary, territorial and an omnivore eating a range of plant and animal matter. It blows jets of water at the sand to expose invertebrate prey.

Colour varies slightly from bright yellow to pale yellow and off-white to light brownish. Spots are white or pale blue on younger fish and darken with age. Boxfish are related to pufferfish. If very distressed, they can secrete a toxic mucus unique to the boxfish family.