Aiptasia-eating Filefish

About this species

Acreichthys tomentosus, commonly known as the bristle-tail filefish or Aiptasia-eating filefish, is a species of demersal marine fish which belongs to the family Monacanthidae and is widespread throughout the tropical waters of the Indo-west Pacific. It is a small fish that can reach a maximum size of 12 cm (4.7 in) length and has the ability to rapidly change color and skin texture and patterns as to avoid detection and consequently predation. It is oviparous.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Acreichthys tomentosus”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 24 records
February: 21 records
March: 23 records
April: 25 records
May: 29 records
June: 17 records
July: 41 records
August: 31 records
September: 28 records
October: 28 records
November: 30 records
December: 20 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–135 m · Deepest record: 135 m

0–10 m: 48 records
10–20 m: 0 records
20–30 m: 2 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 1 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 10 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 12–30 °C

10–12 °C: 1 records
12–14 °C: 0 records
14–16 °C: 0 records
16–18 °C: 0 records
18–20 °C: 0 records
20–22 °C: 0 records
22–24 °C: 1 records
24–26 °C: 0 records
26–28 °C: 10 records
28–30 °C: 113 records

Photos

(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Alicia Christman, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ditch Townsend, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) coenobita, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) portioid, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Nicola Crockford, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Aiptasia-eating Filefish, Banded Leather-jacket, Bristle-tailed Filefish, Bristle-tailed Leatherjacket, Bristle-tail filefish, Bristle-tail File-fish, Bristletail Filefish, Bristle-tail Leatherjacket, Matted leatherjacket, Seagrass Filefish

Names in 4 more languages

German: Gefleckter Bürstenschwanz-Feilenfisch, Seegras-Feilenfisch, Tangfeilenfisch, Tang-Feilenfisch
Filipino: Pakol
Japanese: Fuchidorikawahagi, フチドリカワハギ
Simplified Chinese: 剝皮魚, 白線鬃尾單棘魨, 白線鬃尾魨, 茸鱗單棘魨

Other scientific names: Acreichthy tomento, Acreichthys tomento, Balistes tomentosus, Monacanthus Blochii, Monacanthus tomentosus, Monacanthus trichurus, Parvagor tomentosus, Pervagor tomentosus, Stephanolepis tomentosus

Similar species

Flower-coral Filefish
Acreichthys radiatus
Hajam Filefish
Acreichthys hajam
Leatherjacket
Aluterus monoceros
Scrawled filefish
Aluterus scriptus
Broom filefish
Amanses scopas
Barred filefish
Cantherhines dumerilii

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
262 open-data records from 1758 to 2018.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.