| Aluterus scriptus | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Tetraodontiformes |
| Family: | Monacanthidae |
| Genus: | Aluterus |
| Species: | A. scriptus |
| Binomial name | |
| Aluterus scriptus (Osbeck, 1765) | |
Aluterus scriptus, commonly known as scrawled filefish, broomtail filefish or scribbled leatherjacket, is a marine fish belonging to the family Monacanthidae.
This species has a circumtropical repartition, it can be found in the tropical waters from the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. [2]
This filefish can be observed in lagoons, coral and rocky reefs, seaweed fields, pinnacles, wrecks and also in open water. [2]
Aluterus scriptus is a medium size fish which can grow up to 110 cm (3.6 ft) in length. [3] The body shape looks like an elongated oval, strongly compressed. Its background body coloration is olive-brown or grey depending on its surrounding environment, irregular blue lines and spots are distributed on the body mixed with some black spots mainly on the head. The colors may quickly vary depending on background similar to an octopus's. Fish observed in the Virgin Islands might lie flat on the sand and become pure white or change to any of the other representative colors. The mouth is small and at the end of its pointed snout. Like all the Tetraodontiformes, it has no pelvic fin but has two particular dorsal spines; the first anterior one is long, slender and erectile, located just over the eyes, the second is small and not easy to see but it locks the first one when it is erected. [3] The rounded caudal fin is quite long and can be displayed as a fan.
The juveniles have a yellow with black spots body coloration. [4]
Aluterus scriptus is omnivorous and have a large choice for its meals like small crustaceans, algae, gorgonians, sea anemones, tunicates, fire coral, [3] seagrasses and hydrozoans. [5]
Aluterus scriptus is diurnal and is demersal. It is solitary and shy with divers and is rarely seen with others.
The clown triggerfish, also known as the bigspotted triggerfish, is a demersal marine fish belonging to the family Balistidae, or commonly called triggerfish.
The filefish (Monacanthidae) are a diverse family of tropical to subtropical tetraodontiform marine fish, which are also known as foolfish, leatherjackets or shingles. They live in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Filefish are closely related to triggerfish, pufferfish and trunkfish.
Amanses scopas, also known as the broom filefish, is a filefish, the only species in the genus Amanses of the family Monacanthidae. It is also called brush-sided leatherjacket in Australia or broom leatherjacket in Christmas Island.
The blackspotted puffer, also known as the dog-faced puffer, is a tropical marine fish belonging to the family Tetraodontidae.
The fimbriated moray, also known as dark-spotted moray or spot-face moray, is a moray eel of the family Muraenidae.
The checkerboard wrasse is a fish belonging to the wrasse family. It is native to the area including the Indian Ocean to central Pacific Ocean.
The black-blotched porcupinefish, also known as shortspine porcupinefish, is a member of the family Diodontidae. It is found in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-Pacific on coral and rocky reefs and in inshore waters. Other names are the blotched porcupinefish and the brown-backed porcupinefish.
The spot-fin porcupinefish, also known as the spotted porcupinefish, black-spotted porcupinefish or simply porcupinefish, is a member of the family Diodontidae.
Commerson's frogfish or the giant frogfish, Antennarius commerson, is a marine fish belonging to the family Antennariidae.
Arothron stellatus, also known as the stellate pufferfish, starry puffer, or starry toadfish, is a demersal marine fish belonging to the family Tetraodontidae. It is found in shallow water in the Indo-Pacific region.
Cantherhines dumerilii is a species of fish in the family Monacanthidae, the filefishes. Its common names include whitespotted filefish, barred filefish, orange-fin file, and yelloweye leatherjacket. It is distributed in the Indian and Pacific Oceans where it is found on coral reefs.
Aluterus schoepfii, the orange filefish, is a species of fish in the family Monacanthidae. The species can also be listed under the family Balistidae. They can reach a maximum size of 62 centimetres (24 in) although they are common to 40 centimetres (16 in).
The Chinese trumpetfish, Aulostomus chinensis, is a demersal marine fish belonging to the family Aulostomidae.
The barred-fin moray or bar-tail moray is a species of marine fish in the family Muraenidae.
The yellowhead wrasse is a fish species belonging to wrasse family native to shallow tropical waters in the Caribbean Sea and western Atlantic Ocean.
The painted frogfish or spotted frogfish, Antennarius pictus, is a marine fish belonging to the family Antennariidae.
Arothron caeruleopunctatus, also known as the blue-spotted pufferfish, is a demersal marine fish belonging to the family Tetraodontidae.
Cantherhines pardalis is a species of fish in the family Monacanthidae, the filefishes. Common names include honeycomb filefish, honeycomb leatherjacket, and wire-netting filefish. It is native to the Indian Ocean, the eastern Atlantic, and the western Pacific, except for the seas around Hawaii, where it is replaced by Cantherhines sandwichiensis.
Cantherhines macrocerus, commonly known as the whitespotted filefish or American whitespotted filefish, is a marine fish found along the coast of Florida extending southward into the Caribbean. This species is distinct and separate from Cantherhines dumerilii, the similarly named whitespotted filefish which is found in the Indian and Pacific oceans.
Stephanolepis diaspros, commonly known as the reticulated filefish or the reticulated leatherjacket, is a species of bony fish, a ray-finned fish in the family Monacanthidae. Its natural range is the western Indian Ocean but it is also one of the species which has colonised the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal by Lessepsian migration from the Red Sea.
