Longhorn Cowfish

Lactoria cornuta

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Tetraodontiformes
Family: Ostraciidae
Genus: Lactoria
Species: Lactoria cornuta

The longhorn cowfish (Lactoria cornuta) is a yellow to olive boxfish with two long horns projecting forward from its head and two more at the rear of its body. Its rigid body is covered in fused bony plates.

It can grow to about 45 cm, though most seen by divers are smaller. It hovers over sand, rubble and seagrass, blowing water into the sediment to uncover small invertebrates. Like other boxfish it can release toxins from its skin when stressed.

The longhorn cowfish is found across the Indo-Pacific, including the Philippines, where juveniles are a much-loved find on sandy and muck sites.