Common Name: Mimic Filefish

Distribution: Common in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region: East Africa to Fiji, north to southern Japan, south to New Caledonia. In Australia recorded from northern Western Australia, the Coral Sea and Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, south to northern New South Wales and including Lord Howe Island.

Ecological Notes: Frequents clear lagoon and seaward reefs, adults usually in pairs. Depth to 25 m.

Additional Notes: Mimic of Canthigaster valentini, a poisonous puffer and is distinguished from this species by having long based second dorsal and anal fin, and usually a round dark blotch above origin of anal fin. Solitary or in small groups, feed on eggs, gastropods and algae. Small juvenile shown in bottom image. Grows to 11 cm. 

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.454.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=Paraluteres+prionurus. Accessed 22/06/28.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Paraluteres-prionurus.html. Accessed 22/06/18.