Harlequin filefish
Oxymonacanthus longirostris
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Harlequin filefish
- Scientific
- Oxymonacanthus longirostris
- Dhivehi
- ތުންދިގު ފަތިރޮނޑުThundhigu fathirondu
- Group
- Reef fish
- Maximum size
- Up to about 12 cm (total length) (FishBase); MRS 1997 gives max. 10 cm
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 1 to 35 m
- IUCN status
- VU · VulnerableVulnerable (VU), assessed 2015
Description
A small, colourful filefish with a long, pointed snout, a bright green body covered in rows of orange spots and a black spot on the tail. Pairs or small groups hover among branching and table Acropora corals and feed only on their polyps. Because it depends entirely on these corals, it disappears quickly when they die.
In the Maldives
Dhivehi name thundhigu fathirondu (MRS 1997).
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Oxymonacanthus-longirostris.html
- fao.org /4/AD471E/AD471E00.htm
- fishbase.se /comnames/CommonNamesList.php?ID=6559&GenusName=Oxymonacanthus&Species
- dv.wikipedia.org /wiki/ތުންދިގު_ފަތިރޮނޑު
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Pez_lija_arlequín_(Oxymonacanthus_longirostris),_Zanzíbar,_
Dhivehi name source: M.R.S. (1997) Fishes of the Maldives (FAO/BOBP MAG/21) gives 'Thundhigu fathirondu' (Latin form). FishBase (country: Maldives) gives a different name: 'Muraka rondu'. Thaana from the Dhivehi Wikipedia article 'ތުންދިގު ފަތިރޮނޑު' (derived from the MRS 1997 Dhivehi edition); it matches the Latin form. FishBase also lists 'Thundigu-kalihi' under India (Minicoy/Lakshadweep Mahl dialect); not used. FLAG: sources disagree; needs a Dhivehi speaker. FLAG: the source states no traditional name was recorded and this descriptive name was coined for the book; it is not an established fishermen's name.