A butterflyfish that feeds at night, so it is often found resting in the open by day.
To about 20 cm, yellow-brown with a broad black bar through the eye backed by a white band, a black patch on the nape, fine diagonal lines across the flanks and a black spot on the caudal peduncle in adults. Juveniles carry a large dark eyespot on the rear of the dorsal fin that fades with age.
It is one of the few butterflyfishes here that feeds mainly after dark, taking worms, nudibranchs and coral polyps, which means daytime encounters are often with a fish hanging quietly under a ledge or drifting slowly in the open — easier to photograph than the constantly foraging species. Juveniles are found in very shallow water among rubble and reef flats. Recorded from about 2 to 30 m.
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.