The plainest common butterflyfish here, and the one seen on almost every reef dive.
A small butterflyfish to about 14 cm, yellow-brown shading darker towards the rear, with a white band behind the head, a dark bar through the eye and a pale snout. It has no eyespot, no strong barring and no long snout, which is the easiest way to place it: on a reef full of patterned butterflyfishes, this is the plain one.
It feeds largely on soft coral polyps and plankton, and unlike most of its relatives it will rise several metres off the reef to take drifting food, so it is often the butterflyfish encountered in open water on a descent. Usually in pairs, sometimes in loose groups of a dozen over deeper slopes. It is tolerant of divers and holds position long enough to be photographed without stalking. Recorded from about 3 m to 60 m, and it is one of the deeper ranging butterflyfishes in the region.
Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.