Boxfish/Cowfish and Pufferfish/Globefish

The boxfish family, also called Ostraciidae, is part of the order of the pufferfish relatives. A special feature of the boxfish is their protective armor, consisting of hexagonal bone plates. Furthermore, they protect themselves by a neurotoxin, which e.g. can be secreted in stressful or dangerous situations. The boxfish can be 30cm tall and live singly or in pairs. Puffers are also known under the name Tetraodontidae. Their family also belongs to the order of pufferfish relatives and integrated two subfamilies, the round head puffers and Pointed head puffers. Their size depends on the species and varies between 2 cm and 1.2 m. A specific feature of the puffer fish is its round body shape as well as the property to balloon in danger.