Aluterus scriptus, Scrawled Filefish : fisheries, gamefish, aquarium

Aluterus scriptus (Osbeck, 1765)

Scrawled Filefish
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Image of Aluterus scriptus (Scrawled Filefish)
Aluterus scriptus
Picture by Wirtz, P.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Tetraodontiformes (Puffers and filefishes) > Monacanthidae (Filefishes)
Etymology: Aluterus: Name from Greek meaning not free or detached, referring to the pelvis that does not form a spiny project (as it does in triggerfish) (R. Chandler, pers. Comm. 10/2014).

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; depth range 3 - 120 m (Ref. 36484), usually 3 - 20 m (Ref. 40849). Subtropical; 46°N - 30°S, 180°W - 180°E

Distribution Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Circumtropical.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 110 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 9710); common length : 55.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5450); max. published weight: 2.5 kg (Ref. 26340)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 2; Dorsal soft rays (total): 43 - 50; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 46 - 52. Snout concave (Ref. 1602); olive brown to grey in color, juveniles may be yellowish brown with dark spots (Ref. 4421). Elongate, strongly compressed filefish; tan with blue lines and spots. Caudal fin rounded (Ref. 26938) and long (Ref. 13442). Gill opening oblique, pelvic terminus rudimentary or absent; body and head with scattered small black spots (Ref. 13442).
Body shape (shape guide): short and / or deep.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabit lagoon and seaward reefs (Ref. 9710). Occasionally are seen under floating objects (Ref. 1602). Juveniles may travel with weed rafts in open ocean for a long time and reaching a large size. Adults are usually seen along deep coastal slopes or outer reef drop-offs in about 20 meters depth (Ref. 48637). Benthopelagic (Ref. 58302). Feed on algae, seagrass, hydrozoans, gorgonians, colonial anemones, and tunicates. Caught at the surface using a hand net (Ref. 26165).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator : Hutchins, Barry | Collaborators

Hutchins, J.B., 1986. Monacanthidae. p. 882-887. In M.M. Smith and P.C. Heemstra (eds.) Smiths' sea fishes. Springer-Verlag, Berlin. (Ref. 4421)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 24 February 2014

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Reports of ciguatera poisoning (Ref. 4690)





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | DORIS | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | GoMexSI (interaction data) | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search |