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Striped Burrfish

Chilomycterus schoepfii

Summary 8

The burrfish or spiny Boxfish (Chilomycterus schoepfi) is a member of the porcupinefish family Diodontidae.

Biology 9

Very common in seagrass beds in bays and coastal lagoons. Also found on shallow coastal reefs (Ref. 9710). Has been traded as an aquarium fish at Ceará, Brazil (Ref. 49392).

Description 10

The striped burrfish, Chilomycterus schoepfii, a member of the family Diodontidae, is striking in its appearance. The body is light tan to yellow-brown above and white to yellowish and sometimes blackish below, and is covered with fixed and erect spines that give the animal a pincushion appearance as well as the name burrfish. Dark, wavy and roughly parallel lines cover the sides of the body. Most specimens also have large dark spots above and behind the pectoral fins and at the base of the dorsal fin. Ray counts are as follows: dorsal = 12; anal = 10 (Hoese and Moore 1977, Robbins et al. 1986).Thrust in C. schoepfii and other tetraodontiform fishes is produced through the coordinated action of the pectoral, dorsal, anal, and caudal fins (Arreola and Westneat 1996), in contrast to typical pisciform locomotion which Is accomplished primarily via flexion of the body and caudal fin.

National distribution 11

United States
Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Present

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Size 12

Maximum size: 250 mm TL

Diagnostic description 13

No spines wholly on caudal peduncle. Supraocular tentacles absent or much smaller than eyes. 5 to 7 large dark blotches on back and sides, with many, approximately parallel to obliquely intersecting dark lines distributed over light background colour. No small, dark spots either on body or fin (Ref 53034).

Look alikes 14

The burrfish or spiny puffers that make up the diodontid family are easily distinguished from other tetraodontiform fishes by the presence of conspicuous body spines. Within the family, the striped burrfish is distinguishable from other burrfish by its color pattern and its fixed erect spines; other diodontids in the region have spines that fold back against the body when the animal is not inflated (Hoese and Moore 1977).

Habitat 15

Habitat Type: Marine

Comments: Very common in seagrass beds of bays and coastal lagoons; young pelagic (Robins and Ray 1986).

Reproduction 16

Information on courtship and spawning in Chilomycterus schoepfii is scarce, but published work detailing the spawning behavior of the diodontid Diodon holacanthus indicates spawning in the family may be nocturnal.Spawning is thought to occur offshore but supporting evidence is lacking (Maryland DNR undated).

Link to Access Genomic Data 17

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/Browser/wwwtax.cgi?id=223141&lvl=0

Sources and Credits

  1. (c) Хомелка, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Chilomycterus_schoepfii_in_Tropicarium-Oceanarium_Budapest_08.JPG
  2. (c) Cliff, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://www.flickr.com/photos/28567825@N03/3149755054
  3. (c) Хомелка, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Chilomycterus_schoepfii_in_Tropicarium-Oceanarium_Budapest_02.JPG
  4. (c) Mikael Behrens, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Mikael Behrens
  5. (c) Brandi Noble, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://d1iraxgbwuhpbw.cloudfront.net/images/species/chsch_j1.jpg
  6. (c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8303/7888066122_6edc2cd729_o.jpg
  7. (c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8318/7888066476_8bbdcc7a83_o.jpg
  8. Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilomycterus_schoepfii
  9. Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) FishBase, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/21030917
  10. Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/11525865
  11. Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28812148
  12. Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) FishWise Professional, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/24195939
  13. Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) FishBase, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/21030918
  14. Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/11525868
  15. Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28812150
  16. Adapted by matbio from a work by (c) Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/11525870
  17. (c) matbio, all rights reserved

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