The Tiny, Mighty Filefish
Not too small to cop serious attitude
Today we are watching an adorable pea-sized baby filefish, a member of the pufferfish family. Look at that little face! He does not want to be messed with. This particular genus is a Brachaluteres filefish (also known as the Southern Pygmy Leatherjacket), native of the tropical waters in the Western Pacific Ocean. Even fully grown, the Brachaluteres never gets very large, growing to about 9 centimeters (roughly 3.5 inches) in length. With small fins and round bodies, they are not strong open-water swimmers, but they are quite adept at maneuvering into cover and around obsticles in their habitats. They like to spend their time in shallow seagrass beds and kelp, where their changeable coloration camouflage helps keep them hidden.
Footage was sourced from the video embedded below, although due credit to the original videographer, underwater photographer Jacob Guy. Talk about some gorgeous underwater imagery, check out his fabo web site.
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Ta, Martini. A pea sized puffer!
How on Earth do they swim???