‹ Fish Finder· #125
Schooling Bannerfish
Heniochus diphreutes
Bislamabataflaefis— names this kind of animal, not this species alone
- Habitat
- Reef
- Max size
- 21 cm
- Depth
- 5-30 m
- Family
- Chaetodontidae
The schooling bannerfish, also known as the false moorish idol, is a marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish from the family Chaetodontidae. It is native to the Indo-Pacific area.
Adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
Side by side, with what tells them apart.
Near-identical: white with two black diagonal bands, a long white dorsal banner and yellow rear fins. Pennant Coralfish has a longer snout with darker spots, and a longer pelvic fin with a rounded tip. Schooling Bannerfish has a short snout and a smaller, more angular pelvic fin -- and, as its name says, it gathers in schools in open water, where the coralfish stays by the reef in pairs.
See the Pennant Coralfish →
White, black and yellow, with a long white dorsal filament. Moorish Idol has a tube-like snout with a yellow saddle, and a black tail edged in white. Schooling Bannerfish has a short, spotted snout and a yellow tail, and it is the one seen in large schools off the reef.
See the Moorish Idol →