False moorish idol
Heniochus diphreutes
Valid name (FishBase; confirmed in Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes and WoRMS, October 2026).
- English
- False moorish idol
- Scientific
- Heniochus diphreutes
- Dhivehi
- ދިދަ ބިބީDhidha bibee
- Group
- Reef fish
- Maximum size
- Up to about 21 cm (total length)
- Depth and habitat
- Coral reefs and reef-associated habitats, recorded from 5 to 210 m (usually 5 to 30 m)
- IUCN status
- LC · Least ConcernLeast Concern (LC), assessed 2009
Description
A white bannerfish with two broad black diagonal bands, yellow rear fins and a long white dorsal streamer. It forms large schools that feed on zooplankton above the reef, which helps tell it apart from the very similar pennant coralfish.
In the Maldives
Dhivehi Wikipedia (MRS-derived) gives dhidha bibee; FishBase (Maldives) gives only the general name thun bibi. Large schools are common above Maldivian reef slopes.
Sources
- fishbase.se /summary/Heniochus-diphreutes.html
- fishbase.se /comnames/CommonNamesList.php?ID=7769&GenusName=Heniochus&SpeciesName=
- dv.wikipedia.org /wiki/ދިދަ_ބިބީ
- commons.wikimedia.org /wiki/File:Heniochus_diphreutes_by_NPS.jpg
Dhivehi name source: FishBase (country: Maldives) gives only the general group name 'Thun bibi'. Thaana from the Dhivehi Wikipedia article 'ދިދަ ބިބީ' (derived from the MRS 1997 Dhivehi edition). No published Latin-script form found; 'Dhidha bibee' is Pax's transliteration of the Thaana (Malé Latin conventions). FLAG: Latin form is a transliteration, not a published spelling.