While I was doing the background research on boxfish for the last column, I spent some time looking at their cousins, the filefish.</p><p>Most of the time filefish are shy, and I rate them as slightly above average on the difficult-to-approach meter. But sometimes you can get a great encounter with several species of these odd-shaped critters.</p><p>Filefish have a protruding mouth with some very sharp teeth, similar to a triggerfish. They have narrow, compressed bodies with rough spiny scales and a front dorsal fin that can be raised or lowered. </p><p>When the fin is raised, it resembles a file, which some reference sources say is the inspiration for the name. Others attribute the moniker to the sandpaper-like quality of the scales. Whatever the true origin, filefish are another group of highly entertaining critters on the reef.</p><p>The file is used for safety. They can wedge themselves into a crack in the reef, and lock themselves into place. Filefish are slow swimmers, so the file and other spines (different species have different configurations of dorsal, belly and tail spines) give them their protective edge.</p><p>They eat a variety of things, but mostly algae, seagrass, soft corals and anemones. Scrawled filefish seem to have an affinity for munching on branching fire coral. I have also seen scrawled filefish pecking at a moon jellyfish in mid water.</p><p>In Korea, filefish are a popular snack. It is dried and then roasted into a sweet and sour jerky called juipo. It is also known to have ciguatera, so be cautious if you have a hankering for trying filefish next time you are in the Korean supermarket.</p><p>In the Keys we have nine species. The ones I see here most often are the scrawled, whitespotted and orangespotted varieties. On several occasions I have seen a pair of slender filefish, and on one dive I found a planehead filefish hanging out in a barrel sponge. The other four species - unicorn, orange, fringed and pygmy - I have not yet found.</p><p>One of the most amazing combinations I see on the reef now and then is a communal smorgasbord with scrawled filefish and midnight parrotfish. When I see a school of midnight parrots moving through, I do a couple things. First, I try to get in their path. Chasing them does not work for a close encounter. Second, I slow my breathing as much as I can and remain still. Calm wins.</p><p>Once I am in position, I let them approach me. They are busy eating. I&#x92;m like the withered old side salad nobody wants on the buffet line. You know it&#x92;s there, but you try to ignore it. Fine by me. This is a difficult image to get because there is so much debris in the water from the parrotfish crunching their way along the reef.</p><p>Midnight parrot fish are messy. It&#x92;s like watching Pig Pen, Charlie Brown&#x92;s buddy, move along the reef. I have had the right lens to shoot this a few times, but still do not yet have the image I form in my head in the camera. This one will take more work.</p><p>Speaking of feeding, a great place to get close to scrawled filefish is on the wreck of the Benwood. Scrawled filefish, as noted above, like fire coral. Once you spot a filefish hitting the fire coral, stay with it and you will be rewarded with a great close encounter. Let it see you. They don&#x92;t seem to care about close proximity if they have food on their plate and you are calm in your approach.</p><p>Orange spotted filefish are a whole different ball game. They are usually very shy, and I have found it takes a bit of patience to get them oriented for a good photo. They always seem to know the effective range of my strobes, and like to tantalize me by staying just out of range. Their color changes from orange to a dull yellow and gray when they display the white spots. A lot of times I see them in pairs.</p><p>Next on the elusiveness scale are the orangespotted filefish. They are quite a bit smaller than the scrawled or whitespotted varieties and tend to hide among the gorgonians and peak out at you before they bolt to a more secure spot.</p><p>To me the most difficult species to spot are the slender filefish. Not only are they quite small, typically about three inches or less in length, but they are quite adept at changing color to match the gorgonian they are hiding behind. We have seen them frequently on top of the mini-wall on Deep Molasses. I have not seen many of them elsewhere on the reef.</p><p>Whenever I can, I take a look inside giant barrel sponges. I have found crabs, lionfish and scorpionfish in sponges quite often. On one dive, I found a planehead filefish hiding in a barrel sponge on Molasses. At first I did a double take. I had never seen one before, and it looked like a giant slender filefish. He let me get very close before he began to move out of the sponge, so I backed off after I got my shots and let him have his sponge back to himself.</p><p>It&#x92;s always a thrill to have a close encounter with a species I don&#x92;t have in my image inventory. I&#x92;m sure there are many more close encounters waiting on the reef.</p><p>Tim Grollimund is a freelance photographer and PADI divemaster based in Key Largo. He can be reached at tim@timgimages.com or through his web site at www.timgimages.com. Tim is actively involved with the Coral Restoration Foundation and the Aquarius Foundation.