Threeband pennantfish facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Threeband pennantfish |
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| Heniochus chrysostomus from Borneo | |
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The Threeband Pennantfish, also known as the Threeband Bannerfish or Pennant Bannerfish, is a cool marine fish. Its scientific name is Heniochus chrysostomus. This fish is a type of butterflyfish and belongs to the Chaetodontidae family. You can find it swimming in the warm waters of the Indo-Pacific region.
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Where Does This Fish Live?
The Threeband Pennantfish is found in many tropical and subtropical areas. It lives across the central Indo-Pacific ocean. This includes places from the western coast of India all the way to Polynesia. You can also find it from southern Japan down to New-Caledonia.
What Kind of Home Does It Like?
This fish loves to live in places with lots of coral! It usually hangs out in coral-rich parts of reef flats, lagoons, and reefs that face the open ocean. You can spot them at depths from about 2 to 40 meters (about 6 to 130 feet) deep. Young Threeband Pennantfish often prefer lagoons and estuaries, which are areas where rivers meet the sea.
What Does the Threeband Pennantfish Look Like?
The Threeband Pennantfish is a small fish, growing up to 18 centimeters (about 7 inches) long. Its body is quite flat from side to side. It has a white body with three wide, slanted brown stripes.
- The first brown stripe goes from its forehead down to its bottom fins.
- The second stripe runs from its top fin (dorsal fin) to its back fin (anal fin).
- The third stripe is right next to its dorsal fin.
One of its most unique features is its first dorsal fin ray. It is long and looks like a black and white feather!
Its head has a short snout and a small mouth that can stick out. This bannerfish also has bright yellow colors around its mouth, on top of its snout, and between its eyes. The back part of its dorsal fin, its tail fin (caudal fin), and its side fins (pectoral fins) are all orange-yellow. Young fish have a special black spot with an orange-yellow ring on their anal fin. This spot is called an ocellus, and it looks a bit like an eye!
Life and Habits
Threeband Pennantfish are interesting creatures. When it's time to have babies, they form pairs. They mainly eat coral polyps, which are tiny soft-bodied animals that make up coral reefs. Young fish are usually found alone, not in pairs or groups.
Is This Fish Safe?
People sometimes catch Threeband Pennantfish for aquariums. However, there are no big threats to this species right now. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists it as "Least Concern" (LC). This means it is not in danger of disappearing.
