Acanthostracion is a genus of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Ostraciidae, the boxfishes.

Acanthostracion was first proposed as a subgenus of Ostracion in 1865 by the Dutch physician, herpetologist and ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker.

[1] The 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies this genus within the family Ostraciidae in the suborder Ostracioidea within the order Tetraodontiformes.

[3] There are currently 4 recognized species in this genus:[4] Acanthosracion cowfishes have an oblong, boroad body whichis encased within a bony carapace made up of thickened, typically hexagonal plate-like scales whichare sutured together.

The small mouth sits at the friont of the snout and it has fleshy lips and around 15 moderately sized conical teeth in each jaw.