The longhorn cowfish (Lactoria cornuta), also called the horned boxfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Ostraciidae, the boxfish. This species is recognizable by its long horns that protrude from the front of its head, rather like those of a cow or bull.[3] They are a resident of the Indo-Pacific region and can grow up to 50 cm (20 in) long.
Adults are reef fish, often solitary and territorial, and live around sand or rubble bottom up to a depth of 50 m (160 ft). They are omnivorous, feeding upon benthic algae, various microorganisms, and foraminiferans that it strains from sediments, sponges, polychaete worms and from sand flats. It also can eat mollusks, small crustaceans, and small fish - it's able to feed on benthic invertebrates by blowing jets of water into the sandy substrate. Longhorn cowfish protect the coral reefs they live in by being predators of the invertebrates that destroy the reefs. They are also important in the growth and creation of coral reefs for this same reason.[4]
