Zoster Butterfly Fish

The black pyramid butterflyfish is a small-sized fish that can reach a maximum length of 18 cm.Its body is compressed laterally with a rounded body profile. The snout is somewhat stretched with a small terminal protractile mouth. The body is black, crossed in its center by a broad white trapezoid band with a yellow top, corresponding to the center of the dorsal fin. The caudal fin is white.Hemitaurichthys zoster was first formally described as Chaetodon zoster in 1831 by the English zoologist Edward Turner Bennett (1797–1837) with the type locality given as Mauritius. The specific name zoster means “belt” or “girdle” and is presumed to refer to the wide , white band in the middle of this fish’s body.