Help identifying fish

[Crazys13]

We caught this fish may 2007 a couple miles off Ft Lauderdale. It bugs me not knowing what it is, and my cousin says it's a trigger and I don't think it is. I have searched and searched and have never been able to find pictures of it. So if anyone wants to enlighten me, that would be great. Also it has skin similar in feeling to that of a shark or the like.

So thanks for looking and any insight is greatly appreciated!

-John

 

[Bubblejunkie]

File fish of some sort, fairly common.

 

[Crazys13]

Thank you! I just looked up filefish and found it! Yeah there certainly were a lot of them under the boat. Very hard to rod and reel because their mouths are so small and they just eat your bait. My cousin finally caught one using an eyeball. Thanks for the reply!

-John

 

[jimdoe2you]

We call it a filefish, but some of the old guys call it a scrawl.

 

[podge]

Not to sure what type of fish it is but it’s got a set of teeth like an ex girlfriend of mine.roflrofl

 

[Spaniard]

Looks like a type of trigger fish?

 

[mishu1984]

you can always compare with www.fishbase.org
imho its the best website for fish id

 

[blaiz]

we have those in Hawaii!!....type of file fish....looking it up..."Scrawled Filefish" or "Aluterus scriptus"

Light bluish gray to olive-brown with blue or blue-green spots and short irregular bands and scattered small black spots; dorsal and ventral profiles of head concave; eye about half eye diameter from top of head; first dorsal spine long and slender, over eye; soft dorsal rays 43-49; caudal fin very long and rounded. Reaches 30 inches(76cm). Cosmopolitan in all warm seas. Feeds on algae, gorganians, stinging coral and other noxious coelenterates, tnicates, and sponges. (Shore Fishes of Hawaii, John E. Randall)

"Feeds on algae, gorganians, stinging coral and other noxious coelenterates, tnicates, and sponges."

We used to always catch them on squid too!:blackeye

 

[settingsteel]

Indeed a filefish, illegal to spear in FL waters, but quite tasty

 

[spearslinger22]

in aussie and NZ that looks like a leatherjacket, weird skin you can peal off, illegal in NZ but tasty in Aussie

 

[ReefTroll]

Help identifying fish :

"Yep, it's a fish alright."

 

[spearslinger22]

I dunno, it seems destinctivley 'Goat-like'....