Redtail Filefish, Pervagor melanocephalus

The Filefish is also known as the Flame Filefish . The body is orange to red in color and the head can be gray to black. Filefish from Hawaii tend to have more vivid colors than those from the Indian Ocean.

The Flame Filefish have 1 or 2 dorsal spines, 30 to 33 dorsal soft rays but they have no anal spines. There are 27 to 30 anal soft rays. The head of Filefish is blackish brown or bluish black whereas anterior portion of body, and rest of the body is orange. A black blotch surrounds the gill opening. The Caudal fin is orange, soft dorsal and anal fins are yellow and first dorsal spine is blackish brown. The Pelvic rudiment is large not broadly attached to posterior margin of ventral flap. The scale ridge rugosities of male usually develop at about 65 mm SL.

The Flame Filefish is a shy fish, and rarely aggressive towards other fish except for those of its own genus. It is best suited for aquariums 30 gallons or larger that do not contain invertebrates.

The Coloured Filefish or Blackheaded Filefish, as it is also known, is a difficult fish to maintain and not suitable for a reef aquarium. It will eat most invertebrates.

Most Flame Filefish grows up to around six inches

A 30 gallon or larger aquarium with plenty of swimming room is recommended for the FileFish with plenty of places to hide and swim.

 The water conditions required for Filefish are 73 to 84 degree Fahrenheit temperature, specific gravity from 1.021 to upto 1.025 and pH between 8.2 and 8.4.

The Filefish requires a tank with plenty of swimming space and live rock for hiding and grazing and should be housed with other peaceful fish. It may be aggressive towards other filefish and should be kept as a single specimen or as a male-female pair.

The Filefish are natural inhabitants of Indo-Pacific ocean.

This Filefish may be difficult to feed initially so it may be beneficial to imbed shrimp into coral and allow the fish to feed off of the coral. The diet should include shaved shrimp, squid, scallop, mysid shrimp, freeze-dried krill soaked in a vitamin supplement, and frozen marine algae. The Filefish should be fed no fewer than three times a day.