Cantherhines dumerilii facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Cantherhines dumerilii |
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The Whitespotted Filefish (scientific name: Cantherhines dumerilii) is a type of fish that belongs to the Monacanthidae family. These fish are also known as filefishes. You might hear them called by other names too, like the Barred Filefish or the Yelloweye Leatherjacket. This fish lives in the warm waters of the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean, usually around colorful coral reefs.
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About the Whitespotted Filefish
What Does It Look Like?
This fish can grow up to about 38 centimeters (15 inches) long. However, most of them are usually around 25 centimeters (10 inches). It has bright yellow eyes.
Its body is often grayish or yellowish-brown. You can see about twelve dark stripes going up and down its sides. Its lips are soft and white. The tail fin is small, round, and orange. All its other fins are yellowish.
Male vs. Female Fish
The spines near the tail (on the caudal peduncle) are orange. Male Whitespotted Filefish have longer and brighter orange spines. Their tail fin is also a darker orange, and their eyes are darker.
Where Does Its Name Come From?
The fish is named after August Duméril. He was a scientist who studied animals like reptiles and fish. He worked at a museum in Paris. He helped the person who first described this fish, Henri Hollard, get a sample to study.
Where Whitespotted Filefish Live
Ocean Homes
The Whitespotted Filefish lives in the Indo-Pacific region. This area stretches from the coast of East Africa all the way to places like French Polynesia, Japan, and Hawaii. You can also find it in the eastern Pacific Ocean, near Mexico and Colombia.
Their Favorite Spots
These fish love to live on coral reefs. They often hide in rock cracks and caves if they feel scared. Young filefish, called juveniles, live in the open ocean. They sometimes hide under things floating on the water.
How Whitespotted Filefish Behave
Living on the Reef
These fish live around reefs. They can be found as deep as 70 meters (230 feet). But they usually stay in shallower water, sometimes even close to the surface.
Shy and Solitary
The Whitespotted Filefish is a shy creature. It will quickly hide if it senses danger nearby. You usually see them swimming alone or sometimes in pairs.
What They Eat
They like to munch on the tips of branching corals. They also eat algae, sponges, sea urchins, and small molluscs.
