Boxfish (assorted)

Boxfish is a common name, not a single species. Wikipedia describes Ostraciidae as a family of squared, bony fish in the order Tetraodontiformes, also known as boxfishes, cofferfishes, cowfishes and trunkfishes. The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) lists Ostraciidae as an accepted family. This group entry covers sightings where the species was not recorded.

Wikipedia says their hexagonal, plate-like scales are fused into a solid, triangular or box-like carapace from which the fins, tail, eyes and mouth protrude.

A conservation status is not given here, because this entry covers a whole group.

Wikipedia says the family occurs in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans.

Where Divers Find Them

At Nusa Penida, Bali, Dive Concepts lists box fish on its pages for Buyuk, Ped, Sental and Pura Mas Gading. It repeats nearly the same list across those pages and does not say which species, so occurrence at any one of these sites is not confirmed.

Wikipedia says boxfishes swim in a rowing manner and that their heavy armoured scales limit them to slow movements, though few other fish are able to eat the adults. It says members of the family can secrete substances through the skin that act as a chemical defence.

Underwater Encounter Behavior

The sources cited here do not describe how boxfishes react to divers.