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Project Noah Nature School
Ostracion meleagris
Has brilliant coloration as a result of sexual dimorphism and can be up to six inches in length. Body oblong, thick, enclosed in a bony box formed by thickened, joined, enlarged, hexagonal scale plates; box rectangular, with back gently rounded, a pair of rounded longitudinal ridges on lower flanks, bottom flat; box without spines, with openings for mouth, eyes, gill slits and fins and tail base; snout not projecting; mouth small, opens at front, lips fleshy; teeth moderate, conical, usually < 15 per jaw; gill openings are short, oblique slits in front of pectoral bases; no spiny dorsal, soft dorsal and anal fins at rear of carapace; dorsal rays 9; anal rays 9; pectoral rays 11; no pelvic fins; tail base slender, flexible; tail fin 8 branched rays, a fan rounded in females, straight with rounded corners in males; lateral line inconspicuous.
Wide ranging in the tropical Indo-Pacific from East Africa to the Americas; the tip of Baja, the SE Gulf of California to Ecuador and all the oceanic islands.
Spotted on Jan 17, 2014
Submitted on Mar 10, 2014
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