🐠 Orange Spotted Filefish (Oxymonacanthus longirostris)
A Striking Blue-Green, Orange-Spotted Coral Specialist • An Elongated, Tubular Snout • An Expert-Only Challenge
 
📋 The Orange Spotted Filefish, also known as the Harlequin Filefish, has a striking pale blue-green body covered in numerous small orange spots, with an elongated, tubular snout adapted for reaching into coral branches. It's native to a wide range across the Indo-Pacific, where it inhabits coral-rich areas of protected lagoons at shallow depths, hiding among the very Acropora colonies it depends on.
It's also one of the most demanding fish in the hobby. In the wild it's an obligate corallivore, feeding almost exclusively on the polyps of Acropora corals, which makes it one of the most specialised feeders in the hobby. Some individuals can be carefully weaned onto prepared foods like mysis and enriched brine shrimp, but the transition takes patience and expertise, and it's best attempted only by expert aquarists with live coral available as a safety net throughout. Every Orange Spotted Filefish we ship is feeding well, and it suits expert aquarists with a concrete feeding plan in place; our team is happy to help you prepare.
It's a slow-moving, shy species that does poorly with fin-nipping or fast, competitive tankmates, and swift water movement stresses it. Even once weaned, it may still pick at Acropora and other SPS corals, which can stress or damage a coral frag, so it isn't reef safe for those corals. Keep just one of its kind in the tank.
 
💡 Highlights
🎨 Blue-Green Body Covered in Orange Spots: A striking, iconic reef fish
🪸 An Acropora Specialist: One of the most demanding diets in the hobby
🐢 Slow-Moving and Shy: Needs calm tankmates and gentle water flow
🌿 Not Reef Safe for Acropora: May pick at SPS corals even once weaned
💎 Rare in the Trade: A striking but serious commitment for expert keepers