Teardrop butterflyfish
Chaetodon unimaculatus
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Teardrop butterflyfish
- Scientific
- Chaetodon unimaculatus
- Dhivehi
- ދޮން ބިބީDhon bibee
- Group
- Reef fish
- Maximum size
- Up to about 20 cm (total length); commonly 16 cm
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 1 to 60 m
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2009
Description
A yellow to white butterflyfish with a single large black teardrop-shaped spot high on the side, a black eye bar and a dark edge to the tail. It lives in small groups on reef flats, lagoons and seaward reefs, mostly at 20 to 60 m, and feeds on soft and hard corals, worms and small crustaceans.
In the Maldives
FishBase (Maldives) gives the general name dhon bibee.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Chaetodon-unimaculatus.html
- fishbase.se /comnames/CommonNamesList.php?ID=5581&GenusName=Chaetodon&SpeciesName=
- dv.wikipedia.org /wiki/ދޮން_ބިބީ
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Chaetodon_unimaculatus_1.jpg
Dhivehi name source: FishBase (country: Maldives) agrees: 'Dhon bibee'. Thaana from the Dhivehi Wikipedia article 'ދޮން ބިބީ' (derived from the MRS 1997 Dhivehi edition). No published Latin-script form found; 'Dhon bibee' is Pax's transliteration of the Thaana (Malé Latin conventions). FLAG: Latin form is a transliteration, not a published spelling.