On most of our dives, we encounter banded butterflyfish. They are frequently flitting about the reef in pairs. Although they grow up to 6 inches long, most of the ones we see are close to 4 inches long. Their color varies from silver to white, with two big black bands through the mid-body, and another band through the eye. In the right light conditions, lovely, faint, blue and gold markings appear on the forehead.
Juveniles look similar to the adults, except they have a black spot that is bordered in white at the back of the dorsal fin. This probably serves as a false eye spot, to confuse predators which direction the fish is going.
The juvenile was about 1.5 inches long. I found it in shallow water (8 or 10 feet). The other photos were taken at 25 to 35 feet.
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| A pair, heading to the right |
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| Heading to the lower left |
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| Blue and gold forehead markings are visible |
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| Juvenile heading to the left, note the eye spot on its dorsal fin |
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