Acreichthys sp

Acreichthys is a genus of filefishes native to the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Acreichthys sp is a species of demersal marine fish which belongs to the family Monacanthidae.

 

The filefishes of the family Monacanthidae are well known for the ability of many of the species to avoid detection by changing their color pattern to that of the immediate environment. Some enhance the deception by adding nodules, filaments, or flaps to the skin, and by their behavior. Acreichthys sp effectively uses all of these guises.

Juveniles of the filefish are usually found remarkably well hidden in benthic algae of several species. Subadults and adults are most often seen in seagrass beds (in the reserve mainly tape grass, Enhalus acoroides), where they match the color of the amount of epiphytic growth on the seagrass. They feed mainly on the epiphytes of the seagrass.
The seagrass and the filefish are an example of symbiosis (ecologists prefer mutualism). Unchecked, the accumulation of epiphytic growth will kill the blade of sea grass.
The filefish not only changes its color pattern to match that of a new environment, but is able to instantly alter the texture of its skin, including producing filaments a few mm in length. Acreichthys sp occurs throughout the Indo-Malayan region, ranging north to the Yaeyama Islands of Japan, south to Queensland, east to Tonga.