A thornspine cow fish (Lactoria fornasini) pouts at the camera, box fish may seem helpless and vulnerable, but they have the ability to secrete a poisonous mucus in the water when threatened. Also, their exterior body is a series of hard bony plates that many predators may break their teeth on. Thornspine cow fish feed by blowing water through their tube shaped mouths onto the sand exposing sand dwelling invertebrates.