Pennantfish

Heniochus diphreutes

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth13–80 m
Water temperature19–29 °C
Best monthsAugust and September
How commonOccasional

About this species

The schooling bannerfish, also known as the false moorish idol, is a marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish from the family Chaetodontidae. It is native to the Indo-Pacific area.

Text from the Wikipedia article “Schooling bannerfish”, 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: 13 records
February: 6 records
March: 11 records
April: 30 records
May: 28 records
June: 45 records
July: 23 records
August: 157 records
September: 107 records
October: 86 records
November: 37 records
December: 5 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 13–80 m · Deepest record: 137.5 m

0–10 m: 20 records
10–20 m: 122 records
20–30 m: 131 records
30–40 m: 34 records
40–50 m: 47 records
50–60 m: 50 records
60–70 m: 37 records
70–80 m: 33 records
80–90 m: 14 records
90–100 m: 13 records
100–110 m: 7 records
110+ m: 9 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 19–29 °C

18–20 °C: 1 records
20–22 °C: 12 records
22–24 °C: 18 records
24–26 °C: 169 records
26–28 °C: 109 records
28–30 °C: 14 records

Names and classification

English: Pennantfish, Bannerfish, False Moorish Idol, Pennant Butterflyfish, Schooling Bannerfish, Schooling Coachman

Names in 7 more languages

German: Schwarm-Wimpelfisch
Spanish: Pez estandarte de dos bandas
Filipino: Paru-parang dagat
French: Cocher grégaire, Poisson-cocher grégaire
Japanese: Mure-hatatatedai, Murehatatatedai, ムレハタタテダイ
Thai: ปลาโนรีเกล็ด
Simplified Chinese: 多棘立旗鯛, 多棘馬夫魚

Other scientific names: Heniochus diphreustes

Similar species

Horned Bannerfish
Heniochus varius
Pennant coralfish
Heniochus acuminatus
Horned Bannerfish
Heniochus chrysostomus
Masked bannerfish
Heniochus monoceros
Philippine Kabubu
Heniochus singularius
Indian bannerfish
Heniochus pleurotaenia

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).
942 open-data records from 1900 to 2022.

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