Pervagor aspricaudus
Small orange-tailed reef fish logged around Hawaii in warm 25-29C water, usually spotted alone at 5 to 7 sites as an uncommon find.
A small, deep-bodied fish barely bigger than your palm at around 9 cm, with a flattened, oval shape typical of filefish. The body is a muted orange-brown, but the name-giving orange tail fan stands out as the clearest field mark against the duller flanks. It swims with slow, deliberate fin-flicks rather than fast tail strokes, which combined with its size makes it easy to miss on a busy reef.
Divers typically find it hovering solo near reef structure, picking at algae and small invertebrates rather than schooling or patrolling open water. It is not bold: expect it to hold its position or duck toward cover when a diver approaches too directly rather than continuing to feed in the open. Most sightings are logged as uncommon or rare, so it rewards divers who slow down and check crevices rather than cruise past.
Like other filefish, it can lock itself into reef crevices using an erectile dorsal spine, wedging its body so tightly that predators struggle to pull it free.
No clear seasonal pattern shows up in the sightings, and the observed water temperature range of 25.2 to 29.3C spans the year in Hawaii, so it is a year-round possibility rather than a seasonal target.
Reef neighbours a diver could mistake it for. Use the identification notes above to tell them apart.
All logged sightings so far come from Hawaii, United States, making it the reliable place to look for this species. Divers have picked it out across seven sites there, so working a few different Hawaiian reef sites in one trip improves your odds.
Mapping where Orangetail Filefish is logged…
Every logged sighting so far is from Hawaii, United States, spread across several dive sites there. It has not been reported from other regions in current diver data, so Hawaii is the place to target it.
There is no detected seasonal pattern, and it has been observed across a warm temperature range of 25.2 to 29.3C, consistent with Hawaiian reef conditions year-round. Plan around Hawaii's general dive season rather than a specific month.
Look for a small, flat-bodied fish around 9 cm long with a brownish-orange body and a distinctly orange tail fan. It moves slowly near reef structure rather than schooling or darting, and often stays close to cover.
They stay small, typically reaching around 9 cm, so they are easy to overlook against busier reef life. Their size is a key reason sightings are logged as uncommon rather than frequent.
No, they pose no danger to divers. They are small, non-aggressive reef fish that tend to retreat into crevices rather than confront anything approaching them.
Site and sighting data is aggregated from diver logs, iNaturalist and GBIF. For taxonomy and conservation status:
Whitespotted Filefish
664 sites
