Slender filefish
Monacanthus tuckeri
Bean, 1906
Description:
Body laterally compressed, slender, and elongated. Variable shades of reddish brown to yellow-brown, brown or gray. Upper body usually darker. The color can change to blend with the background. Usually with a white reticulate pattern, but these markings may become indistinct (M. tuckeri). Large dewlap (extendable belly appendage) usually has a yellowish edge with a submarginal blue line.
Size up to 10 cm.
Habitat:
Found over sandy and rocky bottoms, down to 50 m. Usually they live solitary or in pairs between gorgonians, sponges or near coral growths. Often they stay vertically in the water. Especially between gorgonians they are difficult to spot in this position. Feeds on algae and invertebrates.
Distribution:
Occasional Florida, Bahamas and Caribbean.