Though they look menacing, leaf fish (Taenianotus triacanthus) are very docile animals. This specimen is typical in length, about 3 or 4 inches. It parks itself on the reef for long periods, and its body acts as a sail, swaying with the slightest current. The reflective, almost glowing eyes seem to add to the mysterious nature of this fish. Their dorsal spines are sharp and venomonous.

About this image

Identification
Taenianotus triacanthus (Swayfish)
Location

Luzon Island, Philippines

Contributors
Jeffrey N. Jeffords
photographer copyright holder identification
Subjects

Conditions of use

Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License .

To cite this page: Jeffords, J. 2004. "Leaf_fish.jpg" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed {%B %d, %Y} at https://animaldiversity.org/collections/contributors/jeffrey_jeffords/fish/Leaf_fish/

Last updated: 2004-35-14 / Generated: 2025-09-15 02:01

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