Tetrosomus gibbosus (Linnaeus, 1758).

Tetrosomus gibbosus, commonly called humpback turretfish, helmet cowfish, camel cowfish and thornbacked boxfish, is a species of boxfish native to the Indo-West Pacific. T. gibbosus is mainly found at depths of 37–110 m on slopes or over muddy bottoms, but can sometimes be seen near hallow seagrass beds also off the coral reef and in the contiguous submarine prairies, on the sandy and detrital. We report for the first time from Iranian Waters )Persian Gulf, Kish Island), we found it at depth of 3m, and Maximum length is 30 cm in Kish Island (Iranian Waters). It reaches up to 30 cm in length, but is more common at around 20 cm. Like other boxfish, its flesh is poisonous and defending with the spines and poison. T. gibbosus is not a very good swimmer. The coloration varies from the sandy yellow to the blue, in the adult individuals. As for the Ostracion the skin emits defensive poisonous mucus, and in the small pools these toxins may aver fatal for the other fishes if it is repeatedly disturbed or if it passes away. T. gibbosus is a hermaphrodite protogynous species: which means that at the beginning all the animals are females and then, while growing, may transform into males. The humpback turretfish nourishes of sea-weeds, sponges, molluscs, worms and crustaceans it ferrets out on the bottom. The juveniles live in small schools, but the adults, apart the reproductive period, are usually solitary.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ketabi, Ramin, Jamili, Shahla
Format: Images/Video biblioteca
Language:English
Published: Tehran University, Kish International Campus; Iranian Fisheries Science Research Institute 2017
Subjects:ASFA_2015::D::Distribution, ASFA_2015::I::Identification, ASFA_2015::F::Fish location, Fisheries biology, ASFA_2015::I::Ichthyology,
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1834/9650
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