Scribbled leatherjacket filefish

Aluterus scriptus

Saltwater
Filefish
Least concern

About

The scribbled leatherjacket filefish is an odd, elongated reef fish that can reach 110 cm, though most seen are closer to 55 cm. It can shift its colour almost as fast as an octopus, and even lie flat on the sand and turn pure white.

Also known as: broomtail filefish, filefish, scribbled filefish, scrawled filefish, scrolled filefish, scribbled leatherjac. filefish, scribbled leather jacket, scribbled leatherjacket, scrawled tilefish, broomtail filefish, scribbled leatherjacket filefish, scrawled leatherjacket, tobaccofish, scrawled fiiefish, scribbled fish, scrawled filefish, figured leather-jacket, scribbled leatherjacket, scribbled file-fish

Length: 55 cm · max 1.1 m
Weight: max 2.5 kg
Depth: 3–20 m

How to tell it apart

Like other filefish and triggerfish, it has no pelvic fin and a spine above the eye that locks upright. What sets it apart is its shape and pattern: an unusually long, fan-like tail and scrawled blue lines rather than bold bars or stripes.

Appearance

The body is an elongated oval, strongly flattened from side to side. Background colour is olive-brown or grey, overlaid with irregular blue lines and spots, mixed with black spots mainly on the head. The mouth is small, sitting at the tip of a pointed snout. Like other members of its order it has no pelvic fin, but carries two dorsal spines: a long, slender one just above the eyes that can be raised, and a small second spine that locks the first one upright. The tail fin is long and rounded and can be fanned out. Young fish are yellow with black spots.

Habitat

It has a circumtropical range, turning up in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is found in lagoons, on coral and rocky reefs, in seaweed beds, around wrecks and pinnacles, and sometimes in open water, typically along deep coastal slopes or reef drop-offs.