Orangespotted filefish
species of fish
The orangespotted filefish (Cantherhines pullus) is a species of filefish described by Ranzani in 1842. and it is native to shallow waters in the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.
Distribution and habitat
The orangespotted filefish occurs in the Caribbean Sea, the northern half of the Gulf of Mexico and the tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean. In the western Atlantic, its range extends from Massachusetts to southeastern Brazil, while in the eastern Atlantic, it is known from São Tomé and the Gulf of Guinea. It is usually found on reefs at depths between about 3 and 50 m (10 and 160 ft), but usually no deeper than 20 m (70 ft).
Description
The orangespotted filefish grows to a length of about 20 cm (8 in). The head has a number of wavy yellowish lines which run down onto the snout; near the eyes these alternate with bluish lines. The body has a number of broad brown bands separated by narrow whitish-yellow bands which converge at the caudal peduncle and continue onto the tailfin. On the caudal peduncle there is a moderate-sized white spot, often with a smaller white spot below it. The body is speckled with small orange spots, some of which have brown centres, and similar sized white spots.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q777245. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1842.
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This entry incorporates text from “Orangespotted filefish” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.