Brown-and-white butterflyfish
Hemitaurichthys zoster
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- Brown-and-white butterflyfish
- Scientific
- Hemitaurichthys zoster
- Dhivehi
- އޮއިމަތީ ބިބީOimathee bibee
- Group
- Reef fish
- Maximum size
- Up to about 18 cm (total length)
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 1 to 40 m
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2009
Description
A butterflyfish with a dark brown head and rear, a broad white band across the middle of the body and a yellow-tipped dorsal fin. It forms large schools in open water just off the reef edge, feeding on zooplankton, which is unusual for a butterflyfish. It is an Indian Ocean species.
In the Maldives
Dhivehi Wikipedia (MRS-derived) gives oimathee bibee; FishBase (Maldives) lists huras galhi kandu kaalhu. Big schools are a common sight along Maldivian outer reef edges.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Hemitaurichthys-zoster.html
- fishbase.se /comnames/CommonNamesList.php?ID=7795&GenusName=Hemitaurichthys&Specie
- dv.wikipedia.org /wiki/އޮއިމަތީ_ބިބީ
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Pez_mariposa_pirámide_(Hemitaurichthys_zoster),_Zanzíbar,_T
Dhivehi name source: FishBase (country: Maldives) gives a different name: 'Huras galhi kandu kaalhu'. Thaana from the Dhivehi Wikipedia article 'އޮއިމަތީ ބިބީ' (derived from the MRS 1997 Dhivehi edition). No published Latin-script form found; 'Oimathee bibee' is Pax's transliteration of the Thaana (Malé Latin conventions). FishBase also lists 'Handupholimas' under India (Minicoy/Lakshadweep Mahl dialect); not used. FLAG: sources disagree; needs a Dhivehi speaker. FLAG: Latin form is a transliteration, not a published spelling.