Aracanidae

Aracanidae
Anoplocapros inermis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Tetraodontiformes
Family:	Aracanidae Hollard, 1860
Genera[1]
Anoplocapros Aracana Caprichthys Capropygia Kentrocapros Polyplacapros

The Aracanidae are a family of bony fishes related to the boxfishes. They are somewhat more primitive than the true boxfishes, but have a similar protective covering of thickened scale plates. They are found in the Indian Ocean and the west Pacific. Unlike the true boxfishes, they inhabit deep waters, of over 200 metres (660 ft) in depth.^[2]

Fossil Species

The family is represented in the fossil record by the extinct genus Proaracana with the single species P. dubia known from the Middle Eocene of Italy.

References

1. Matsuura, K. (2014): Taxonomy and systematics of tetraodontiform fishes: a review focusing primarily on progress in the period from 1980 to 2014. Ichthyological Research, 62 (1): 72-113.
2. Matsuura, K. & Tyler, J.C. (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N., ed. Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. p. 229. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.