Diamond Leatherjacket, Rudarius excelsus Hutchins 1977
Other Names: Diamond Filefish
A Diamond Leatherjacket, Rudarius excelsus, at Iriomote Island, Okinawa, Japan, depth 10 m. Source: orangkucing / http://orangkucing.tumblr.com/. License: CC by Attribution-ShareAlike
Summary:
A very small deep-bodied green to blackish leatherjacket. Males have long bristles on the side of the caudal peduncle.
Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2018, Rudarius excelsus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 20 Mar 2025, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/2469
Diamond Leatherjacket, Rudarius excelsus Hutchins 1977
More Info
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Distribution |
Recorded in Australia from the northern Great Barrier Reef to at least Lady Elliot Island in the southern part of the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland. Elsewhere, the species occurs in the tropical west Pacific (Papua New Guinea, Malaysia & the Ryukyu Islands, Japan). |
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Features |
Dorsal fin II + 22-24 (second spine not visible); Anal fin 20-22; Pectoral fin 10. Body very deep, somewhat diamond-shaped, depth at anal-fin origin 1.1-1.2 in SL; snout profile straight to concave; eye large, 2.1-2.4 in HL; pelvic spine movable, ventral flap small, conspicuous; caudal fin rounded. A sexually dimorphic species with the caudal peduncle of males having extremely elongate bristles, vs females having small spinules only slightly larger than those on the body. |
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Biology |
Huthcins (1977) reported that the 15-mm SL female paratype specimen was sexually mature with 120 relatively large eggs. |
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Species Citation |
Rudarius excelsus Hutchins, 1977, Rec. West. Aust. Mus. 5(1): 49, fig. 13. Type locality: Lindeman Island, QLD. |
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Author |
Bray, D.J. 2018 |
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Resources |
Diamond Leatherjacket, Rudarius excelsus Hutchins 1977
References
Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.
Hutchins, J.B. 1977. Descriptions of three new genera and eight new species of monacanthid fishes from Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum 5(1): 3-58 figs 1-13 PDF
Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. A comprehensive reference for divers and fishermen. Sydney, NSW, Australia : New Holland Publishers xvii, 434 pp.
Kuiter R.W. & Tonozuka, T. 2001. Pictorial guide to Indonesian reef fishes. Part 3. Jawfishes - Sunfishes, Opistognathidae - Molidae. Melbourne : Zoonetics pp. 623–893.
Matsuura, K., 1989. First record of an extremely small filefish Rudarius excelsus from the north Pacific. Japanese Journal of Ichthyology 35(4): 482-483. PDF
Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 507 pp. figs.
Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 557 pp. figs.
