About Heniochus varius (Cuvier, 1829)
The horned bannerfish (scientific name Heniochus varius (Cuvier, 1829)) is a small fish that grows to a maximum length of 19 centimetres (7.5 inches). Like other butterflyfishes, it has a characteristic deep, highly compressed body. Adult horned bannerfish can be distinguished from other species in the same genus by a pair of distinct horns on the forehead, located just above the eyes, along with a prominent bump on the forehead. The body's main color ranges from brown to blackish, marked by one thin white band behind the head and a second white band that runs from the spiny section of the dorsal fin to the caudal peduncle. These two white stripes form a triangle of the body's base color on the fish's body. The dorsal fin of this species has 11 spines and 22 to 25 soft rays, while the anal fin has 3 spines and 17 to 18 soft rays.
Horned bannerfish are widely distributed across the tropical and subtropical waters of the central Indo-Pacific, ranging from Indonesia to Polynesia, and from southern Japan to New Caledonia. They live in coral-rich areas in shallow lagoons and external reef slopes, occurring from the water's surface down to a depth of 30 meters.
