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Moorish Idol
Zanclus cornutus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Moorish Idols at Shark Point, New South Wales. View larger image.

A Moorish Idol at a depth of 12m, Fly Point, Nelson Bay, New South Wales.

A Moorish Idol photographed at night at a depth of 10m, Turtle Head, Mana Island fringing reef, Fiji, April 2002. Note the drab night time colouration. View larger image.

The Moorish Idol has a very long, white, sickle-shaped dorsal fin, two broad black bars on the body, and a yellow saddle across the snout.

It uses its long snout to feed on coralline algae and sponges in cracks and crevices.

The Moorish Idol grows to 24cm in length.

It is sometimes seen as a single individual, but often forms pairs and occasionally larger schools.

This species has a widespread Indo-Pacific distribution in tropical and some temperate waters.

In Australia it is known from the central Western Australian coast, around the tropical north and south to southern New South Wales. It can be found from the shallows to depths in excess of 180m.

View a map of the collecting localities of specimens in the Australian Museum Fish Collection.

The genus name "Zanclus" comes from the Greek word for "sickle" and refers to the sickle-shaped dorsal fin. The species name "cornutus" is from the Latin word for "horn", and presumably refers to the bumps over the eyes of adults.

The Moorish Idol is the only species in the family Zanclidae.

Further reading

1. Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 292.
2. Allen, G.R. & R. Swainston. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Western Australian Museum. Pp. 201.
3. Brown, R.W. 1956. Composition of Scientific Words. R. W. Brown. Pp. 882.
4. Hutchins, B. & R. Swainston. 1986. Sea Fishes of Southern Australia. Complete Field Guide for Anglers and Divers. Swainston Publishing. Pp. 180.
5. Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. New Holland. Pp. 433.
6. Kuiter, R.H. 2000. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Gary Allen. Pp. 437.
7. Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & R.C. Steene. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Crawford House Press. Pp. 557.