Forcepsfish

About this species

The yellow longnose butterflyfish, also known as the forceps butterflyfish or forcepsfish, is a species of marine fish in the family Chaetodontidae.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Yellow longnose butterflyfish”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 293 records
February: 420 records
March: 573 records
April: 904 records
May: 543 records
June: 832 records
July: 655 records
August: 790 records
September: 981 records
October: 603 records
November: 351 records
December: 236 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 6–24 m · Deepest record: 125 m

0–10 m: 1,199 records
10–20 m: 2,173 records
20–30 m: 1,132 records
30–40 m: 4 records
40–50 m: 5 records
50–60 m: 0 records
60–70 m: 0 records
70–80 m: 0 records
80–90 m: 0 records
90–100 m: 0 records
100–110 m: 0 records
110+ m: 4 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 21–30 °C

20–22 °C: 1 records
22–24 °C: 20 records
24–26 °C: 175 records
26–28 °C: 132 records
28–30 °C: 241 records

Photos

(c) Kristof Zyskowski, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Micha Baum, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA) · CC BY-SA · iNaturalist
(c) Darren Obbard, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Debra Baker, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Abby Darrah, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Lexi Amico, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Piotr Lukasik, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Forcepsfish, Big long-nosed Butterflyfish, Common Longnose Butterflyfish, Forceps Butterflyfish, forcepsfish, Forceps Fish, Forceps fish, Longnose butterfly fish, Longnose butterflyfish, Long Nose Butterfly, longnose butterflyfish, Long-nose Butterflyfish, Longnose Butterfly Fish, Long-nosed Butterflyfish, Longnosed Butterflyfish, Long-nosed coralfish, Longsnouted Butterflyfish, Yellow Long Nose Butterfly, Yellow Longnose Butterflyfish

Names in 6 more languages

German: Gelber Langnasen Pinzettfisch, Gelber Masken-Pinzettfisch
Spanish: Hachita, mariposa hocicona, Mariposa nariz larga, Mariposa narizona, Pez Mariposa Hocicona amarilla
French: Chelmon à long bec, Papillon longnez, Papillon long nez, Poisson pincette à long nez, Poisson pincette à long nez, Poisson-pincette jaune
Japanese: Fueyakkodai, フエヤッコダイ
Thai: ปลาผีเสื้อจมูกขาวเหลือง, ปลาผีเสื้อจมูกยาวขอบตาขาว, ปลาผีเสื้อปากยาวขอบตาขาว, ปลาผีเสื้อปากยาวเหลือง
Simplified Chinese: 火箭蝶, 火箭蝶/黃火箭, 黃鑷口魚, 黄镊口鱼

Other scientific names: Foreipiger flavissimus

Similar species

Longnose butterflyfish
Forcipiger longirostris
Threadfin butterflyfish
Chaetodon auriga
Citron Butterfly
Chaetodon citrinellus
Blackblotch Butterflyfish
Chaetodon ephippium
Sunburst butterflyfish
Chaetodon kleinii
Raccoon butterflyfish
Chaetodon lunula

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
6,594 open-data records from 1897 to 2024.
Species data updated October 26, 2026.