Fanbelly Leatherjacket
Monacanthus chinensis
False puffer
Paraluteres prionurus
About
The false puffer is a harmless impostor. It copies the look of a toxic pufferfish so closely that predators, and most divers, leave it alone without a second glance.
Also known as: black-saddled leatherjacket, blacksaddle filefish, blacksaddle mimic, blacksaddle filefish, false puffer, mimic filefish, mimic leatherjacket, hooked filefish, blacksaddle mimic, mimic filefish, blacksaddle filefish, black-saddled leatherjacket, mimic leatherjacket
- Length
- 11 cm
- Depth
- up to 25 m
How to tell it apart
This fish is a near-perfect copy of the toxic pufferfish Canthigaster valentini, and telling them apart on colour alone is very hard. The one physical difference to look for is a small spine near the front of its back, tucked into a groove along the spine; true pufferfish do not carry this feature.
Appearance
This small fish grows to about 11 cm. Its body colour ranges from sandy grey to pale greenish or dirty white, marked with dark saddle-shaped patches across the back and a round dark blotch above where the anal fin begins. The tail is yellowish, and the soft dorsal and anal fins are clear with dusky tips.
Did you know?
This mimic doesn't just copy the toxic pufferfish's looks from a distance; the two species have been seen schooling together on the same reef.
Log it in Into the Blue
Describe what you saw and we name it, then keep every species you find in your Oceandex.
