Phantom bannerfish
Home/Marine Life/Phantom bannerfish
1 min read
- Name / Latin
- Phantom bannerfish — Heniochus pleurotaenia
- Brief description
- The phantom bannerfish is a reef fish of the family Chaetodontidae from the central Indo-Pacific. The body is deep and strongly flattened; the first dorsal ray is elongated into a "banner". Coloration is light with contrasting dark areas: a "mask" through the eye, a broad dark band behind the head and a dark patch or zone at the tail base; the upper body and back are often yellowish. It lives in coral-rich lagoons and on outer reef slopes, in pairs or groups (sometimes large schools in some areas), often on reef crests in the surge zone.
- Size:
- up to 18 cm
- Depth:
- 1–25 m
- Habitat:
- Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, Andaman Sea
- Family:
- Chaetodontidae
- Type:
- Fish
- Activity:
- Diurnal
- Conservation status:
- Least Concern (LC) — not threatened with extinction according to IUCN assessment
The phantom bannerfish (Heniochus pleurotaenia) is a marine fish of the family Chaetodontidae from the central Indo-Pacific. It lives in coral-rich lagoon and coastal reef areas, where it is seen in pairs or groups.
In Indonesia they are usually seen in pairs in coastal waters, while in more offshore areas they may form groups, and in some places such as the Maldives they can be seen in very large schools. Phantom bannerfish occur at various depths and often live on shallow reef crests exposed to surge. They prefer mixed algal and coral habitat down to 25 metres but are also found in deeper coastal waters.
This is an egg-laying species that forms pairs during breeding.
