dotterel filefish
Aluterus heudelotii Hollard, 1855
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
Aluterus heudelotii, the dotterel filefish or dottered filefish, is a filefish of the family Monacanthidae. It is found in the western Atlantic from Massachusetts to the Gulf of Mexico and along the Caribbean coast of South America to northeast Brazil, and in the eastern Atlantic from Mauritania and Senegal to southern Angola. It is named after Jean-Pierre Heudelot.
This demersal species inhabits seagrass, sand, or mud in shallow waters, typically between 10 and 100 m and occasionally down to 2000 m. It grows up to 45 cm in total length, with a typical length of 25–30 cm, and feeds on plants such as algae and seagrasses. It is of no interest for fisheries.
Wikipedia contributors, Aluterus heudelotii; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T06:39:05.520821+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Aluterus heudelotii Hollard, 1855
- Name authority
- Hollard, 1855
- Common name
- dotterel filefish
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Tetraodontiformes
- Family
- Monacanthidae
- Genus
- Aluterus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: no · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderTetraodontiformes
- suborderBalistoidei
- familyMonacanthidae Nardo, 1843
- genusAluterus Cloquet, 1816
- speciesAluterus heudelotii Hollard, 1855
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Aluterus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| scrawled filefishAluterus scriptus (Osbeck, 1765) | MonacanthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| orange filefishAluterus schoepfii (Walbaum, 1792) | MonacanthidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Alutera ventralis Longley, 1935 Longley, 1935 | synonym |
| Aluteres blankerti Metzelaar, 1919 Metzelaar, 1919 | synonym |
| Aluteres fuscus (Fischer, 1885) (Fischer, 1885) | synonym |
| Aluterus blankerti Metzelaar, 1919 Metzelaar, 1919 | synonym |
| Monacanthus fuscus Fischer, 1885 Fischer, 1885 | synonym |
| Monacanthus heudelotii (Hollard, 1855) (Hollard, 1855) | synonym |
| Alutera blankerti Metzelaar, 1919 Metzelaar, 1919 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Hollard, H. L. G. M. (1855). Monographie de la famille des balistides. (Suite et fin). Annales Des Sciences Naturelles, Paris (Zoologie) (Sér. 4), v. 4: 5–27, Pl. 1. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:CB8K. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.