''Cyclichthys hardenbergi'', commonly known as Hardenburg's burrfish, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

of porcupinefish in the family Diodontidae. It is native to the tropical western

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

, where it is known from southern

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

and northern Australia east of Cape York. The species is typically seen at depths of less than 100 m (328 ft) over soft substrates. It is believed to be a solitary species that feeds on hard-shelled

invertebrates Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chordat ...

. The species reaches 25 cm (9.8 inches) in standard length. Although sometimes caught by

trawling Trawling is a method of fishing that involves pulling a fishing net through the water behind one or more boats. The net used for trawling is called a trawl. This principle requires netting bags which are towed through water to catch different spec ...

, it is not a target for commercial fisheries.

References

Fish described in 1939 Diodontidae Fish of New Guinea Fish of Australia Fish of the Pacific Ocean {{fish-stub