A large butterflyfish with a black saddle over the back and a trailing dorsal filament.
To about 30 cm, one of the largest butterflyfishes here. Grey-silver with fine dark lines on the lower flanks, a large black saddle over the upper rear body edged below in white, an orange snout and chest, and a filament trailing from the rear of the dorsal fin in adults. There is no dark bar through the eye, which is unusual in the family and a quick separation from most relatives.
It feeds on coral polyps, algae, small invertebrates and fish eggs, working steadily across reef and rubble alone or in pairs. It is more tolerant of a diver than most large butterflyfish and will continue feeding at two or three metres. Juveniles are found in shallow rubble and carry a dark eyespot on the dorsal fin. Recorded from about 2 to 35 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.