Acreichthys tomentosus commonly known as the Matted Leatherjacket or the Aiptasia Eating Filefish. It is found at the depth of up to 15 m in the seas of Indonesia.
This filefish can grow up to 4 inches. The Matted Filefish is known to eat aiptasia in an aquarium, but normally it also nibs on soft and stony corals. Aiptasia Eating Filefish is a shy fish and will often hide itself in the rock work. They are perfect in disguise and blend completely in the rock work.
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Matted Leatherjacket is a non-aggressive towards other tank mates and spends most of its time hiding in the rock work. It is advised that only one specimen should be kept in one aquarium or can only be kept in pairs. Point to be note here is filefish is monomorphic as in they change sex with maturity, the adult males have bristles near the tail fin arranged a well-defined central rectangular patch. Acreichthys tomentosus has also been aquaculture and raised in captive which is not only a more sustainable choice but are also even harder and more adaptable to our aquarium.
This fish can also be considered as a part of clean-up crew as aiptasia is a pest and must be controlled. Sometimes this fish can be confused with a similar looking species Radial filefish (A. radiatus).
In the wild this fish strives on invertebrates such as small crustaceans, polychaete worms and molluscs. However, they need to be feed properly, or we can expect that matted nibbling on the corals. This is an excellent choice for all those tanks where aiptasia outbreak needs to be controlled. So, to read more on this fish click here FishBase.
