Barred Filefish, Cantherhines dumerilii

Barred Filefish, Cantherhines dumerilii. Fish caught from within the Kona Marina, Kona, Hawaii, May 2015. Length: 20 cm (7.9 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

Barred Filefish, Cantherhines dumerilii. Fish caught from within the Kona Marina, Kona, Hawaii, May 2015. Length: 22 cm (8.5 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of George Brinkman, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

Barred Filefish, Cantherhines dumerilii. Underwater photograph taken in coastal waters of Bahia Tenacatita, Jalisco, February 2015. Photograph and identification courtesy of Jeff Cross, Albuquerque, NM.

Barred Filefish, Cantherhines dumerilii. Underwater photograph taken in coastal waters off Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, October 2015. Photograph courtesy of Bob Hillis, Ivins, Utah.

Barred Filefish, Cantherhines dumerilii. Underwater photographs taken in coastal water around Isla Ixtapa, Guerrero, March 2018. Photographs courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuantanejo.

The Barred Filefish, Cantherhines dumerilii, is a member of the Filefish or Monacanthidae Family, and is known in Mexico as lija vagabunda. Globally, there are twelve species in the genus Canthernines, of which three are found in Mexican waters, two in the Atlantic and one in the Pacific Ocean.

The Barred Filefish has a deep oblong compressed body. They are grayish-brown with a series of incomplete dark bars on their sides toward the rear of their body. Their eyes have a yellow-gold iris and their pectoral and caudal fins are yellow. Males are more highly colored than females or juveniles. They have a long pointed snout, a small mouth that opens at the front, and mid-sized prominent eyes set high on their head. Their anal fin has 28 to 35 rays; their caudal fin is straight or slightly rounded, their first dorsal fin has 2 spines; the first spine, located over the front half of the eyes, is robust, can be locked in place by the small second spine, and folds down into a deep grovel; their second dorsal fin has 34 to 39 dorsal rays; and their pectoral fins have 14 to 15 rays. Their body is covered with small scales and their skin has the texture of fine sandpaper.

The Barred Filefish is found in coral and rocky reefs at depths up to 69 m (225 feet). They reach a maximum of 38 cm (15 inches) in length. As of January 1, 2023, the International Game Fish Association world record stood at 0.66 kg (1 lb 7 oz) with the fish caught in coastal waters off Japan in May 2021. They feed on algae, branching coral, mollusks, sea urchins, and sponges. They are normally found as solitary individuals or in pairs. They are shy fish and quickly take cover in caves and large crevices of the reef. The Barred Filefish is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.

The Barred Filefish is a resident of Mexican waters of the Pacific Ocean but has a very limited distribution being found only around the southeast tip of Baja, Baja California Sur, and along the coastal mainland from Mazatlán, Sinaloa, to Zihuantanejo, Guerrero.

The Barred Filefish is easy to identify due to the barring pattern on its sides, its yellow caudal and pectoral fins, and the yellow-gold colored iris of its eyes, thus it cannot be confused with any other species.

From a conservation perspective the Barred Filefish is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. In Mexican waters they are rare and has a very limited distribution, therefore are of limited interest to most.