Trunkfishes

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Q 1.
	Why is the trunkfish so-named?
Q 2.
	What is a cowfish?
Q 3.
	While diving in water about 10 feet deep off St. Lucia, I photographed this spherically shaped bright orange fish, which measures about 5/16 inch in diameter. Can you identify it?


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	Q&A 1.	Why is the trunkfish so-named?
	Because these fishes (Family Ostraciidae) are noted for having their bodies encased in a heavy armor of six-sided therma1 plates instead of scales as in ordinary fishes. Only the soft tail, the eyes, jaws, gills, and fins are left free to move, the body being completely enclosed and boxlike. Since the underside is flattened and forms an angle with the sides, a trunkfish will remain sitting upright when removed from the water. The meat is of excellent flavor, the fish often being baked in its shell. Under certain conditions, however, the liver and ovaries may be poisonous when eaten.
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	Q&A 2.	What is a cowfish?
	This is one of the most curious of marine fishes. The name is derived from the bovine appearance of the head, which bears a pair of hornlike spines over the eye, and a small mouth. Belonging to the Family of trunkfishes (Ostraciidae), the cowfish, Lactophryte tricorois, has the body encased in a shell of fused hexagonal plates with only the eyes, jaws, fins, and tail movable. The cowfish is good eating, often being served baked in the shell, although some of its more tropical relatives have poisonous flesh.
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	Q&A 3.	While diving in water about 10 feet deep off St. Lucia, I photographed this spherically shaped bright orange fish, which measures about 5/16 inch in diameter. Can you identify it? Richmond, Virginia
	This fish is a juvenile trunkfish, probably a spotted trunkfish (Lactophrys bicaudalis). Although this specimen is orange, other juveniles may be dark brown. In fact, according to Dr. C. Richard Robins of the University of Miami, these little fish may be easily mistaken for the Australian pine (Casuarina spp.) "cones" that are often seen floating in shallow South Florida and Caribbean waters. As an adult, the spotted trunkfish is usually tan with many evenly distributed dark brown spots and an arc of four to five whitish spots behind the eyes. This species may reach a length of about 19 inches.
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