CreatureData

Cowfish

Lactoria cornuta (Linnaeus, 1758)

Status not recordedbony fish

The cowfish (Lactoria cornuta) is a species in the family Ostraciidae, order Tetraodontiformes.

No freely licensed photo yet

Quick facts about the cowfish

Weight
Not recorded
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Conservation status
Not recorded
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the cowfish live?

Not recorded

Where has it been introduced?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the cowfish as introduced in 1 country.

  1. China

Introduced means brought by people and now present; invasive means the country's checklist records an impact. A species can be native to one part of a country and introduced in another. Source: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (CC BY 4.0).

Is the cowfish endangered?

No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.

How is the cowfish classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classTeleostei
  4. orderTetraodontiformes
  5. familyOstraciidae
  6. genusLactoria
  7. SpeciesLactoria cornuta (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Lactoria cornutus, Ostracion cornutus, Ostracion horridus

Other names and names in other languages (82)
  • CofferfishEnglish
  • Cow-fishEnglish
  • Horned boxfishEnglish
  • Long horned cowfishEnglish
  • Long-horn cow-fishEnglish
  • Long-horn cowfishEnglish
  • Long-horned cowfishEnglish
  • Longhorn cowfishEnglish
  • TrunkfishEnglish
  • KoeivisAfrikaans
  • Vaqueta banyudaCatalan
  • Sópwcal
  • Taballong tandukancbk
  • PantaganCebuano
  • Oblok may sungaycgc
  • havýš rohatýCzech
  • Butitidaw
  • Langhorn-KofferfischGerman
  • Pez vaca de cuernos largosSpanish
  • ucuruaFijian
  • CoffreFrench
  • GalanganHiligaynon
  • Pesce scatola cornuto comuneItalian
  • コンゴウフグJapanese
  • Vaasijaz
  • 뿔복Korean
  • GoffeMorisyen
  • KombanMalayalam
  • Pega-pegamrw
  • BuntalMalay
  • LanghoornkoffervisDutch
  • KaramasusPalauan
  • Kostera rogataPolish
  • Peixe-vaca-comumPortuguese
  • Рогатый кузовокRussian
  • Kaban-kabansgd
  • Moamoa-ulutaoSamoan
  • KofiskSwedish
  • Momoa tara roaTahitian
  • Taballongtao
  • ปลาปักเป้าเขาวัวThai
  • TabarongFilipino
  • Cá Nóc Sứng đuôi DàiVietnamese
  • Baul-baulWaray
  • 牛角Chinese
  • Langhoring-koeivisAfrikaans
  • SeevarkieAfrikaans
  • Ssabcal
  • Galangan nga boteteCebuano
  • Obuluk suñgayanCebuano
  • TabayongCebuano
  • Gehörnter KuhkofferfischGerman
  • Poisson vache à longues cornesFrench
  • Poisson-vacheFrench
  • Poisson-vache à longues cornesFrench
  • Kongô-fuguJapanese
  • കൊന്പന്Malayalam
  • കൊന്വന്Malayalam
  • തരതൊന്പുMalayalam
  • താരതൊന്വ്Malayalam
  • TharathombuMalayalam
  • Buntal batuMalay
  • Buntal kotakMalay
  • Buntal kumbangMalay
  • Buntal petiMalay
  • Buntal tandukMalay
  • Buntel tandukMalay
  • Ikan lembuMalay
  • Kaban tandukMalay
  • LelembuMalay
  • Sapi sapiMalay
  • Moamoa-uluto'iSamoan
  • ปลาสี่เหลี่ยมเขาวัวThai
  • Baka bakaFilipino
  • Baka-bakaFilipino
  • Baka-bakahanFilipino
  • 海牛港Chinese
  • 牛角狄Chinese
  • 箱河魨Chinese
  • 角箱魨Chinese
  • 角規Chinese
  • 長牛角Chinese

Catalogue of Life

Relatives of the cowfish

Other species in the same genus Lactoria.

Cofferfish

Lactoria fornasini

OstraciidaeNo free photo yet

CompareCowfish vs CofferfishCowfish vs Spiny boxfishCowfish vs Lactoria paschae

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

Is the cowfish an invasive species?

The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species lists the cowfish as introduced in 1 country: China, but does not flag it as invasive in any of them.

What kind of animal is the cowfish?

The cowfish (Lactoria cornuta) belongs to the family Ostraciidae in the order Tetraodontiformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Cowfish (Lactoria cornuta). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/lactoria-cornuta

MLA

“Cowfish (Lactoria cornuta).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/lactoria-cornuta.

BibTeX
@misc{lactoria_cornuta_2026,
  title = {Cowfish (Lactoria cornuta)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/lactoria-cornuta},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}