Aluterus monocerus

Description

Family Monacanthidae

Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans. Usually two dorsal spines; the second is usually much smaller and it may be absent. Upper jaw usually with three teeth in outer and two in the inner series on each premaxillary , developed for nibbling; 19-31 vertebrae . Alutera scripta reaches 1 m maximum length . Most species feed on a wide variety of benthic invertebrates , but some specialize on corals or zooplankton . Filefishes lay demersal eggs in a site prepared and guarded by the male or both parents. Some of the subtropical species release eggs in open water .The family Monacanthidae belongs to the Class Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes ) and the Order Tetraodontiformes. It contains 31 genera and 95 species. It may be found in Marine environments and is primarily Marine. Some members of this family are used in the aquarium trade. Reproductively, most members of this family are mixed. The main mode of swimming of adult fish in this family is balistiform. Compared with other fish, the activity level of this family tends to be normal. Members of this family have been dated back to the Pliocene epoch of the Tertiary period. Etymology of this family name : Greek, monos = only + Greek, akantha = thorn

Taxonomy

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Domain: Eukaryota () - Whittaker & Margulis,1978
- Kingdom: Animalia () - Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
  - Subkingdom: Bilateria () - (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983
    - Branch: Deuterostomia () - Grobben, 1908
      - Infrakingdom: Chordonia () - (Haeckel, 1874) Cavalier-Smith, 1998
        Phylum: Chordata () - Bateson, 1885 - Chordates
        Subphylum: Vertebrata () - Cuvier, 1812 - Vertebrates
        Infraphylum: Gnathostomata () - Auct. - Jawed Vertebrates
        Superclass: Osteichthyes () - Huxley, 1880 - Bony Fishes
        Class: Actinopterygii () - Huxley, 1880 - Ray-Finned Fishes
        Subclass: Actinopterygii () - Ray-Finned Fishes
        Infraclass: Actinopteri ()
        Cohort: Clupeocephala ()
        Superorder: Acanthopterygii ()
        Order: Tetraodontiformes ()
        Suborder: Balistoidei ()
        Family: Monacanthidae () - Filefishes
        Genus: Aluterus ()
        Specific name: monocerus - (Linnaeus, 1758)
        Scientific name: - Aluterus monocerus

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Aluterus

There are approximately 19 species in this genus:

A. anginosus · A. convexifrons · A. cultrifrons · A. heudeloti (Dotterel Filefish) · A. heudelotii (Dotted-Line Blenny) · A. heudelotti · A. holbroocki · A. maculosus · A. monoceros (Unicorn Leatherjacket Filefish) · A. monocerus · A. paragaudatus · A. punctata · A. rhinoceros · A. schoepfi · A. schoepfii (Orange Filefish) · A. scriptus (Scribbled Leatherjacket Filefi) · A. sp · A. velutinus · A. venosus

More Info

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Notes

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Contributors

Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed December 14, 2007. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 3 providers.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal December 14, 2007:

FishBase, FishBase DiGIR Provider - Philippine Server
Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, iziko South African Museum - Fish Collection

Identifiers

Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 16113223
Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 2324477

Curator for this page: Barry Hutchins. Date last reviewed: 1899-12-30