Common Name: Pennant Bannerfish

Distribution: Uncommon in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. Distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region: from Western India to Pitcairn Islands, north to southern Japan, south to Rowley Shoals, southern Queensland, New Caledonia and Micronesia. In Australia recorded from the North West Shelf region of Western Australia, Queensland south to northern New South Wales and including Lord Howe Island.

Ecological Notes: Frequent coral rich areas of reef flats and lagoon and seaward reefs. Juveniles usually in estuaries and lagoons. Depth to 40 m.

Additional Notes: Triangular shape and with tallest dorsal spine with extended feather-like pennant. Feeds mainly on coral polyps. Juvenile in top photo, note ocellus on anal fin. Adult in lower photograph. Grows to 18 cm.

References: R. Stuart-Smith, G. Edgar, A. Green, I. Shaw, Tropical Marine Fishes of Australia. Reed New Holland Publishers, 2015. p.216.

Atlas of Living Australia website at https://bie.ala.org.au/search?q=heniochus+chrysostomus. Accessed 01/06/18.

FishBase. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2018. World Wide Web electronic publication. https://fishbase.ca/summary/Heniochus-chrysostomus.html. Accessed 01/06/18.