Indian vagabond butterflyfish
Chaetodon decussatus
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Indian vagabond butterflyfish
- Scientific
- Chaetodon decussatus
- Dhivehi
- ހިންދުކޮކާ ބިބީHindhukokaa bibee
- Group
- Reef fish
- Maximum size
- Up to about 20 cm (total length)
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 1 to 30 m
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2009
Description
A white butterflyfish with a herringbone of thin dark diagonal lines, a black eye bar and a broad black rear section edged with yellow, including the soft dorsal fin and tail base. It lives in pairs on coral, rubble and rocky reefs and feeds largely on algae and coral polyps. It is the Indian Ocean counterpart of the vagabond butterflyfish.
In the Maldives
Dhivehi Wikipedia (MRS-derived) gives hindhukokaa bibee.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Chaetodon-decussatus.html
- dv.wikipedia.org /wiki/ހިންދުކޮކާ_ބިބީ
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Bep_chaetodon_decussatus.jpg
Dhivehi name source: Thaana from the Dhivehi Wikipedia article 'ހިންދުކޮކާ ބިބީ' (derived from the MRS 1997 Dhivehi edition). No published Latin-script form found; 'Hindhukokaa bibee' is Pax's transliteration of the Thaana (Malé Latin conventions). FLAG: Latin form is a transliteration, not a published spelling.