Ornate Cowfish

Aracana ornata has a body which is armoured in a stiff carapace which is made up of large sculptured bony plates and they have bony ridges which bear large recurved spines. The dorsal and anal fins are opposite each other and are placed towards the caudal peduncle which either has no bony plates or reduced plates. The males are marked with blue and orange stripes, spots and reticulations with a yellowish-orange caudal fin has a pattern of blue lines. They also have a convex snout. Females are dark brown striped with white or yellowish-white, some of these are wavy and these can form circles on the back. The females are yellow to vivid orange on the lower body. The dorsal fin has 10 or 11 soft rays while the anal fin has 10, the pectoral fin also has 10 and the caudal fin has 11. The ornate cowfish has a maximum published total length of 15 cm (5.9 in).

Aracana ornata is endemic to the coastal waters of temperate Australia from Merimbula in New South Wales west to Esperance on the southern coast of Western Australia. This species is found at depths down to 15 m (49 ft) in seagrass beds in shltered bays, harbours and other sheltered coastal waters.