I think the first time I saw a wild scrawled filefish was at Molasses Reef near Key Largo. Before then I had only seen White Spotted Filefish and Orange Spot Filefish. Now that I am diving and snorkeling mostly in the Keys, I see these beautiful fish almost every single time. So it just makes sense to include this fish in the fish coloring book.
You can read about this project in the post “A Fish Journal for a six-year-old” and you can see all the posts for this project using the tag “Fish Coloring Book“.
Screwed filefish are very beautiful and dramatic looking fish that grow to be between one to two and half feet long. They can change color depending on their environment in order to camouflage themselves.
They like to eat small crustaceans, algae, gorgonians, sea anemones, tunicates, and fire coral.
They are fairly cautious, shy fish but if you happen to see one while diving or snorkeling, if you hold very still they may let you drift towards them.
Erica Lauer Vose 