Orange spotted filefish

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iOrange spotted filefish
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Tetraodontiformes Family: Monacanthidae Genus: Oxymonacanthus Species: O. longirostris
Binomial name
Oxymonacanthus longirostris (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

The orange spotted filefish or harlequin filefish, Oxymonacanthus longirostris, is a filefish in the family Monacanthidae found on coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific Oceans.

The orange spotted filefish is pale blue with about eight longitudinal rows of orange-yellow patches. In the wild it almost only eats Acropora polyps.^[1]

[edit] In the aquarium

It is often offered for sale in the aquarium trade, but few specimens survive long in captivity.^[2] It is difficult to maintain in an aquarium unless it is provided with live corals. The fish must be kept in a species-specific tank, or a tank with very passive tankmates such as seahorses or pipefish.

[edit] References

1. ^ "Oxymonacanthus longirostris". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. March 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
2. ^ Filefishes, Family Monacanthidae. The Marine Center. Retrieved on 4 July 2006.