Latin name | Chaetodermis penicilligerus - (Cuvier, 1816) |
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Local name | Prickly leatherjacket |
Family | Monacanthidae - Chaetodermis |
Origin | East Indian Ocean, Australia, Japan, Indonesia, New Zealand, Central/West Pacific |
Max length | 31 cm (12.2") |
Minimum volume | 700 l (185 gal) |
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Hardiness | Hardy |
Suitable for aquarium | Suitable with care |
Reef safe | Reef safe with luck |
Aggressiveness | Mostly peaceful but might be aggressive towards similar species |
Recommended |
Macroalgea (Eg. seaweed / nori) Microalgea (Eg. spirulina) Small crustaceans (Krill, mysis, artemia...) |
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Maybee |
Large polyp stone coral (LPS) Other invertebrates Soft coral |
This species likes to eat tubeworms.
This species can be a threat towards small crustaceans, e.g. small shrimp.
This fish requires feeding several times a day, especially when newly added.
When the fish can find its natural food in the aquarium it requires less frequent feeding.
These fish should be kept in a well run aquarium where they can "graze" algae from rocks and stones.
If there are insufficient algae on the rocks, it is important to feed more frequently and supplement with algae rich food e.g. Spirulina.
This species needs good hiding places, for example, between live rocks.
This species can be very shy when first introduced into a new aquarium.
More aggressive fish can be introduced after this species has acclimatized.
Filefish (Monacanthidae) have a very characteristic appearance, but whether one likes them or not is a matter of taste.
Some species are suitable for aquaria, although they will occasionally eat a coral or invertebrate. They are therefore not so well suited to coral tanks.
They are often used to fight glass anemones (Aiptasia) and Majano anemones. Pervagor nigrolineatus is especially good at this.
They need peace and quiet from both the aquarist and other fish, when adjusting to the tank life.
Be careful when catching them, as they easily becomes caught in the net.
Distribution | Indo-West Pacific: Indo-Malayan region to Australia, north to Japan. |
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English common names |
Tasselled leatherjacket Leafy filefish Prickly leatherjacket |
Danish common names |
Frynsefilfisk |
Dave Wolfenden. 2013. Filefish: A bit of rough! - Practical Fishkeeping - (English)
Scott W. Michael. Can You Add Filefish to a Reef Tank? - Fish Channel - (English)
Bob Fenner. Filefishes, Family Monacanthidae, Part I, Part II, Part III - Wet Web Media - (English)
Scott W. Michael. Those Fabulous Filefish - Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine - (English)
Minimum volume
"Minimum volume" indicates the size of the tank needed to house this species under optimal conditions.
This is based on a medium size animal, which you want to keep for several years.
It might be possible to keep smaller specimens for a limited period in a smaller tank. A larger tank might be needed for fully-grown specimens.
Hardiness
"Hardiness" indicates how resistant this species is to disease and how well i tolerates bad conditions in general.
Some species doesn't handle transportation very well, but that doesn't mean that the species isn't hardy under the right conditions.
Suitable for aquarium
In this case, a "normal" aquarium is a reef aquarium with mixed corals or a fish only aquarium with an approximately salinity of 1.026 (sg) and a temperature close to 26°C.
Species requiring more than a 4000-liter tank are considered not suitable for home aquarium.
Special aquariums may cover tanks with low salinity, sub-tropical temperature, deep sand bed, sea grass etc.
Reef safe
Always reef safe: No sources indicate that this species will harm corals or other invertebrates.
Often reef safe: Only a few aquarists has reported problems keeping this species with corals and other invertebrates.
Reef safe with caution: This species may be a threat to some types of invertebrates.
Reef safe with luck: Most specimens will harm corals and/or other invertebrates, but you might be lucky.
Not reef safe: This species is a threat to most corals and/or other invertebrates.