🐠 Tasselled Filefish (Chaetodermis penicilligerus)
The Living-Seaweed Mimic • Leaf-Like Skin Tassels and Dark Stripes • A Peaceful, Drifting Showpiece
 
📋 The Tasselled Filefish, also known as the Leafy Filefish or Prickly Leatherjacket, has a truly unique appearance: a laterally compressed, tan-to-light-brown body marked with dark horizontal stripes and covered in numerous tiny, leaf-like tassels that break up its outline into a remarkably effective camouflage among seaweed and marine algae. It's native to reefs across the Indo-Pacific, including Australia, Indonesia, Japan, and the Philippines, and it's a relative of the triggerfish family.
It moves in a slow, deliberate, drifting manner that adds to its living-leaf disguise, and it's a peaceful, browsing species that won't bother most tankmates, with one exception: it can be aggressive toward its own kind or closely related filefish. It's a poor, sluggish swimmer with small fins, so plenty of hiding spots and shelter matter, especially when it feels threatened. It isn't reef safe, and will feed on a wide range of invertebrates. It should never be housed with puffers or triggerfish, which may nip at its delicate skin tassels.
It grows to about 31cm, so plan for a roomy tank of 280L or more.
 
💡 Highlights
🎨 Leaf-Like Skin Tassels and Striping: A uniquely effective natural camouflage
🌿 Living-Seaweed Mimicry: Slow, drifting movement enhances its leaf-like disguise
😌 Peaceful: Won't bother most tankmates, aside from its own kind
🐟 Not Reef Safe: Will feed on a wide range of invertebrates
🛡️ Choose Tankmates Carefully: Never house with puffers or triggerfish