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Yellow Boxfish
Ostracion cubicus Linnaeus, 1758

A Yellow Boxfish at a depth of 5 m, Steve’s Bommie, Ribbon Reef #3, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, October 2006. Photo © G. Shepherd. View larger image.

Above and below: A Yellow Boxfish at a depth of 15 m, "Davies Reef", off Townsville, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, November 1999. Photo © E. Schlögl. View larger image.

Photo © E. Schlögl. View larger image.

A juvenile Yellow Boxfish at a depth of 10 m, Fly Point, Port Stephens, New South Wales, August 2000. Photo © H. Rothenfluh & P. Zylstra. View larger image.

The Yellow Boxfish can be recognised by its box-shaped body, bright yellow colouration and black spots. Juveniles have black spots about the size of the pupil. As the fish grows, the spots become smaller and brownish, sometimes even changing to white spots with a black margin.

This species grows to 45 cm in length.

The Yellow Boxfish inhabits coral and rocky reefs. Larval fish generally settle on sheltered rocky and coral reefs. In New South Wales this occurs in the summer months, when juveniles are often found in small aggregations.

Adult Yellow Boxfish are often solitary and occur on deeper coastal slopes, lagoons and areas where there are crevices and ledges for shelter.

The Yellow Boxfish is found in depths from 1 m to 40 m. It feeds on a range of benthic organisms such as molluscs, crustaceans, fishes, sand-dwelling polychaete worms and algae.

The species occurs in tropical and temperate marine waters of the Indo-West Pacific, including Indonesia, New Guinea, north to the Philippine Islands and east to Fiji and French Polynesia.

In Australia the Yellow Boxfish is known from the central coast of Western Australia around the tropical north and down the east coast to south of Sydney, New South Wales.

View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.

Related links

• View the Boxfishes list
• View the family Ostraciidae list
• View the Yellow Boxfish enquiry

Further reading

1. Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 244.
2. Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 408.
3. Kuiter, R.H. 2000. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Gary Allen. Pp. 469.
4. Myers, R.F. 1999. Micronesian Reef Fishes. Coral Graphics. Pp. 265.