Chaetodontidae

Longnose butterflyfish

Forcipiger flavissimus

Its long slender snout plucks tube feet from sea urchins

• Black
• White
• Yellow
• Tropical
• Regional distribution
• Marine fish
• Compressed
• Compressed cross-section
• Medium
• Tropical fish

Celebrated for possessing the longest geographic distribution of any butterflyfish on Earth, the longnose butterflyfish is instantly identified by its remarkably prolonged, forceps-like snout. Its bright disc-like body glows in saturated canary-yellow, contrasted dramatically by a head divided horizontally into a velvety black upper crown and a glistening silvery-white lower cheek. A small, crisp black eyespot adorns the posterior base of the anal fin, while twelve sturdy dorsal spines crown the back. Found across the entire tropical Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea and East Africa all the way across the Pacific to Central America and the Galápagos Islands, it frequents outer reef drop-offs, coral ledges, and surge walls from two to one hundred and fourteen meters depth. Its forceps-like tubular jaws allow it to probe deeply into rock crevices to extract elusive hydroids, sea urchin tube feet, and polychaete tentacles without damaging its mouth. Territorial pairs maintain lifelong bonds. Maximum recorded total length reaches twenty-two centimetres.

Sources: Australian Museum — Longnose Butterflyfish, Forcipiger flavissimus