Broom filefish

Amanses scopas

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth4–21 m
Water temperature24–30 °C
Best monthsJune, July, and October
How commonOccasional

Photo credit: no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

About this species

Amanses scopas, also known as the broom filefish, is a filefish, the only extant species in the genus Amanses of the family Monacanthidae. It is also called brush-sided leatherjacket in Australia or broom leatherjacket in Christmas Island.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Broom filefish”, 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: 30 records
February: 57 records
March: 89 records
April: 82 records
May: 44 records
June: 92 records
July: 117 records
August: 69 records
September: 48 records
October: 90 records
November: 48 records
December: 28 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 4–21 m · Deepest record: 98.5 m

0–10 m: 186 records
10–20 m: 210 records
20–30 m: 55 records
30–40 m: 0 records
40–50 m: 0 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 1 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 24–30 °C

24–26 °C: 23 records
26–28 °C: 106 records
28–30 °C: 373 records

Photos

no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) ajott, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ewout Knoester, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Rui Ribeiro, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Melissa Meadows, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Broom filefish, broom filefish, Broom Leatherjacket, Brush-sided Leatherjacket

Names in 4 more languages

German: Bürsten-Feilenfisch
French: Poisson-lime balai
Japanese: Azamikawahagi, アザミカワハギ
Simplified Chinese: 剝皮魚, 美單棘魨, 美尾棘魨

Other scientific names: Amnases scopas, Anameses scopas, Anamses scopas, Balistes scopas, Monacanthus scopas, Thamnaconus penicularius

Similar species

Leatherjacket
Aluterus monoceros
Scrawled filefish
Aluterus scriptus
Barred filefish
Cantherhines dumerilii
Honeycomb filefish
Cantherhines pardalis
Sandwich Isle file
Cantherhines sandwichiensis
Barbeled leatherjacket
Anacanthus barbatus

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).
819 open-data records from 1829 to 2023.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.

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