Maldives Marine Life

Marine life of Maldivian waters

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One-spot snapper
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Photo: Diego Delso / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (view on Wikimedia Commons)

One-spot snapper

Lutjanus monostigma

Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).

English
One-spot snapper
Scientific
Lutjanus monostigma
Dhivehi
Dhon filolhu
Group
Groupers and snappers
Family
Lutjanidae (snappers)
Maximum size
Up to about 60 cm (total length); commonly 50 cm
Depth and habitat
Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 1 to 60 m; also enters brackish water
IUCN status
LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2015

Description

A pale whitish to pinkish snapper with dusky-edged scales, yellow fins and a single small black spot on the side below the soft dorsal fin. It stays close to caves, large coral formations and wrecks and hunts fish and crabs at night. Large individuals are sometimes ciguatoxic.

In the Maldives

Dhivehi name dhon filolhu (MRS 1997).

Sources

  • fishbase.se /summary/Lutjanus-monostigma.html
  • fishbase.se /comnames/CommonNamesList.php?ID=166&GenusName=Lutjanus&SpeciesName=mo
  • commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Pargo_de_una_mancha_(Lutjanus_monostigma),_parque_nacional_

Dhivehi name source: FishBase common names (country: Maldives) give 'Dhon filolhu' (Latin script). FLAG: single source.