Scrawled Filefish
Jun 24, 2011
The scrawled filefish can stand its primary dorsal fin erect to lodge itself into a crack or crevice of a reef.
Design
The scrawled filefish can stand its primary dorsal fin erect to lodge itself into a crack or crevice of a reef. This feature now is used partially as a defense mechanism, making it difficult for predators to remove the filefish to eat it.
Features
- This scrawled filefish has a body coloring from an olive-brown to a pale gray. It has blue lines and dots that are irregularly distributed over its body. Juveniles are yellowish.
- It also has a pronounced, tube-like mouth at the end of its snout.
Fun Facts
- Years ago, fishermen used filefish skin to light matches because the skin is so rough.
- A filefish will sometimes float in a vertical position to blend in to blades of seagrass and coral whips.
- Most species of filefishes are able to change their color to closely match their surroundings and are fairly secretive.
- The scrawled filefish is also known as the scribbled filefish.
CLASS: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)
ORDER: Tetraodontiformes (cowfishes, filefishes, leatherjackets, puffers, triggerfishes, and trunkfishes)
FAMILY: Monacanthidae (filefishes)
GENUS/SPECIES: Aluterus scriptus
Size: Average 1–2.5 ft (0.3–0.8 m)
Depth: 10-400 ft (4–120 m)
Diet: Seagrasses, hydrozoans, gorgonians, and tunicates
Habitat: Coastal waters of Western Atlantic, Eastern Atlantic, Eastern Pacific, and Western Indo-Pacific
