About Acanthostracion quadricornis (Linnaeus, 1758)
The scrawled cowfish, scientifically named Acanthostracion quadricornis (Linnaeus, 1758), has a thick, oblong body that is mostly enclosed in a thickened carapace. This carapace is made up of enlarged, plate-like hexagonal scales that are joined to one another, leaving the mouth, eyes, gills, fins, and caudal peduncle uncovered. The bases of the dorsal and anal fins are completely surrounded by the carapace. A pair of large spines projects outward past the eyes from each orbit, and a second pair of spines sits at each lower rear corner of the carapace. Isolated plate-like scales on the upper and lower sections of the caudal peduncle are also enlarged into short spines. The small mouth has fleshy lips, and each jaw holds fifteen moderately-sized conical teeth. Both the dorsal and anal fins have ten soft rays. The overall body color of adult scrawled cowfish ranges from gray-brown to yellowish green, with a longitudinal blue stripe that runs from the snout to the origin of the anal fin. Many irregular blackish-blue to bright blue stripes and spots cover the body, and the cheeks typically have three or four parallel blue stripes, though some individuals have no blue markings at all. Juvenile scrawled cowfish are overall pale gray-brown, marked with blue spots that have dark edges. The maximum published total length for this species is 55 cm (22 in). The scrawled cowfish is distributed in the Western Atlantic Ocean, ranging from Massachusetts and Bermuda south through the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, and along the coast of South America as far south as southern Brazil, including Trindade Island. It inhabits shallow waters down to approximately 80 m (260 ft), and is most commonly found in seagrass beds. Along the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, this species lives in the marine zones of lagoon ecosystems.
