Threadfin butterfly fish

Scientific name : Chaetodon auriga

Medium size (23 cm) butterfly fish, white with diagonal black lines, superimposing with a typical pattern. Vertical black band covering the eye. Yellow dorsal, anal and caudal fins, the dorsal have a black spot and a short filament heading backward. Common in lagoon, back reef, reef front. Often in areas of dead coral. Feeds on coral, anemones, polychaetes, algae. The thread fin distinguishes it easily from other white and black species, in particular from Chaetodon vagabundus, which has the same colour pattern. The Red Sea population misses the black spot on dorsal fin.