Butterflyfish – image gallery | marine species information | diving photos

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BUTTERFLYFISH
Panda butterflyfish | Indian red fin butterflyfish | bannerfish | racoon butterflyfish | Moorish Idols

Butterflyfish image gallery...

Underwater photography: images of butterflyfish taken while scuba diving


	Mistaken Identity: an encounter with a Moorish Idol...

click on any image to enlarge


Panda	Crown	Masked	Spot-banded	racoon

Long-beaked	Saddleback	Bannerfish	White collar	Longnose

Foureye	Blacklip	juv. Bannerfish	Spotfin	Indian red fin
Int = intermediate \| Juv = juvenile

All about butterflyfish...

Family: Chaetodontidae - Butterflyfishes
Order: Perciformes
Class: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)

The Chaetodontidae family – butterflyfish – is a large group of around 120 species and 10 genera although the exact number varies depending on what classification scheme you look at. They are fairly small, generally up to 22 centimetres in length, however, the lined butterflyfish grows to 30 cm.

Butterflyfish are NOT regarded as a threatened species.

Their shape is always a deep-bodied disc, and thin from side to side, with a single dorsal fin. The family name derives from the Greek words for hair and tooth as they have rows of brush-like teeth found in their tiny protruding mouths.

Most adult butterflyfish live as heterosexual couplesthat swim in tandem around a private patch of reef they have staked a calim over. Th emajority are coral eaters that stay on coral reefs but a few types form large groups that hang around together in swarms. At dusk they find shelter in a reef recess and become inactive. As they settle in for the night, daytime colours pale and markings change.

Like real butterflies, the fishy versions display impressive body decoration: masks, false eyespots, stripes, bands and checks in a myriad of colours. Many butterflyfish are confused with angelfish, and there are similarities, but angels can be spotted by noting the sharp spine that sits across the lower edge of their gills. Another case of mistaken identity is the Moorish Idol, which is neither of these but the sole representative of the family Zanclidae.

Butterflyfish encounters...

LOCATION: Tanzania
DIVE SITE: Shindano, Mnemba Atoll
DEPTH: 15m
SPECIES: Zanclus cornutus
COMMON NAME: Moorish Idol

IMAGE
Moorish Idol patrolling the reef
DIVE LOG:
Shallow sloping reef rim with several tiny ledges, which drop to a sandy bottom. One small cavern full of glassfish, leaffish and scorpions. This Moorish Idol was patrolling along the outside. He was alone but we found others a little deeper. These fish are often called butterflyfish as they look very similar to juvenile bannerfish (see image 13 in the gallery above).

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