''Hemitaurichthys zoster'', commonly known as the brown-and-white butterflyfish, black pyramid butterflyfish, zoster butterflyfish, or brushtooth butterflyfish, is a marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

, a

butterflyfish The butterflyfish are a group of conspicuous tropical marine fish of the family Chaetodontidae; the bannerfish and coralfish are also included in this group. The approximately 129 species in 12 genera are found mostly on the reefs of the Atla ...

belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Chaetodontidae native to the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

Description

The black pyramid butterflyfish is a small-sized fish that can reach a maximum length of 18 cm. Its body is compressed laterally with a rounded body profile. The snout is somewhat stretched with a small terminal protractile mouth. The body is black, crossed in its center by a broad white trapezoid band with a yellow top, corresponding to the center of the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

. The

caudal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as ...

is white.

Distribution & ecology

''Hemitaurichthys zoster'' is widespread throughout tropical and subtropical waters of the

from the eastern coast of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

. It lives in large schools on outer reef slopes, from which it can sally into open water to feed on

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a crucia ...

. The species is found at depths of 3–40 meters.

Taxonomy and etymology

''Hemitaurichthys zoster'' was first formally described as ''Chaetodon zoster'' in 1831 by the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

Edward Turner Bennett (1797–1837) with the type locality given as Mauritius. The specific name ''zoster'' means "belt" or "girdle" and is presumed to refer to the wide, white band in the middle of this fish's body.

Utilisation

''Hemitaurichthys zoster'' is rare in the aquarium trade.

Conservation status

''Hemitaurichthys zoster'' is a planktivore, and the species may be affected by climate-induced reductions in planktonic productivity. As there do not appear to be any specific current threats, it is listed as

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

(LC) by the IUCN.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2072118 zoster Fish of the Indian Ocean Fish described in 1831 Taxa named by Edward Turner Bennett