This species of boxfish (family Aracanidae) is found from about 3m depth under jetties and in seagrass beds. Males have a distinctive honeycomb pattern on their body, with diagonal blue stripes towards the face and a large hump on the snout. Females are brown and white and have a maze-like pattern of lines over their body. Females in particular are almost indistinguishable from the closely-related Aracana aurita. A. ornata can be distinguished by its erect or even forward-pointing "horns", smaller lips and a greater number of brown stripes on the caudal peduncle (usually five instead of three).
