Ranzania Nardo, 1840
Diagnosis: body oblong, covered by smooth hexagonal plates. Lips forming a funnel, closing mouth as a vertical slit. Clavus with 22 rays and straight edge. Dorsal finrays 17; anal finrays 13. Colour: blackish-blue above, sides grey with silvery lines curving across head and belly, and dorsal and ventral edges with black lines or spots. Size: to 80 cm TL.
Habitat: epipelagic. Behaviour: often gregarious, may form large schools. Food: no data. Reproduction: two developmental stages: (I) tetraodontiform—body rather elongate, no spines, caudal fin present; (2) ostracioniform (Centaurus boops)—body short, with a few very large and serrated spines.
Distribution: Mediterranean and Atlantic from Madeira to Scandinavia. Cosmopolitan.
Species 1.
Species of this genus in the program:
Ranzania laevis