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NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD

scrawled cowfish

Acanthostracion quadricornis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Source-backed taxonomic record

Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Identity & source status

Scientific name
Acanthostracion quadricornis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Name authority
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Common name
scrawled cowfish
Rank
species
Accepted status
accepted
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Chordata
Class
Teleostei
Order
Tetraodontiformes
Family
Ostraciidae
Genus
Acanthostracion
Extinction status
Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

  1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
  2. kingdomAnimalia
  3. phylumChordata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. infraphylumGnathostomata
  6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
  7. gigaclassActinopterygii
  8. superclassActinopteri
  9. classTeleostei
  10. orderTetraodontiformes
  11. suborderBalistoidei
  12. familyOstraciidae Rafinesque, 1810
  13. genusAcanthostracion Bleeker, 1865
  14. speciesAcanthostracion quadricornis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Acanthostracion. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

SpeciesClassificationSource status
Acanthostracion notacanthus (Bleeker, 1863)OstraciidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied
Acanthostracion polygonium Poey, 1876OstraciidaeChordataAccepted speciesExtinction status not supplied

Browse 17 records assigned to Ostraciidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Recorded nameSource status
Lactophrys quadricornis (Linnaeus, 1758) (Linnaeus, 1758)synonym
Lactophrys tricornis (Linnaeus, 1758) (Linnaeus, 1758)synonym
Ostracion quadricornis Linnaeus, 1758 Linnaeus, 1758synonym
Ostracion tricornis Linnaeus, 1758 Linnaeus, 1758synonym
Acanthostracion tricornis (Linnaeus, 1758) (Linnaeus, 1758)synonym

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

  1. https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=158920 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:929L. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.