Heniochus acuminatus

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Longfin Bannerfish, Poor Man’s Moorish Idol, Black-and-White Heniochus, Pennant Coralfish

Range: Western Pacific Ocean: East Africa to Society Islands, and north to the Arabian Gulf and Southern Japan, south to Lord Howe Island.

Size: 10 inches (25 cm)

Natural Environment: Inhabits deep lagoons, coastal reefs, reef channels, and fore-reef slopes at depths between 6 – 250 feet (2 – 75 m) and feeds on zooplankton, soft and stony coral polyps, worms, small crustaceans, various other benthic invertebrates and some filamentous algae.

General Husbandry: Quite attractive, hardy and very common in the trade, having a white body with two large black slightly diagonal bands, black crown connecting the eyes, black spots on the snout, with the leading edge of dorsal extended into a very long white filament, hence its most used common name, Longfin Bannerfish. Remaining dorsal is yellow, as are the pectoral and caudal fins, with black pelvic fins.

Easily maintained in larger peaceful fish-only aquariums, especially those with lots of open swimming space, live rock to browse on, and having some micro and macroalgae growths.

As to diet, this is not a difficult species to get feeding in captivity as it will feed on a wide range of regular aquarium foodstuffs. Yet keep in mind its basically a meat eater in the wild, therefore begin with various frozen meaty foods such as mysis and enriched brine shrimp, and feed several times daily. Since it also injests some algae in the wild, flake foods/frozen herbivore foods, especially those containing Spirulina and/or Nori should also be occasionally offered.

Small human consumption clams/black mussels purchased in local grocery stores and placed on the half-shell in the aquarium, enriched live brine shrimp and live black worms (Lumbriculus variegatus) should be considered healthy additional treats!

Can be maintained with others its genus, or same species, yet all should be introduced at the same time.

Taxonomy:

Order: Perciformes

Suborder: Percoidei

Family: Chaetodontidae

Genus: Heniochus

FYI: Quite similar to H. diphreutes, yet has a slightly longer snout, its spots are darker, the pelvic fin is longer and has a rounded end and the rear black band ends higher up onto the anal fin, whereas on H. diphreutes it splits the center of the anal fin with the white mid body stripe.

Pressing some soft foods into openings/crevices on a piece of old dead coral skeleton can sometimes encourage finicky eaters to begin feeding.

Experience Level: Beginner

Temperament: Peaceful

Diet: Omnivore

Coral Safe: No

Invertebrate Safe: No

Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+

Aquarium Environment: Fish-only aquarium

Tankmates: Peaceful or non-aggressive

Minimum Tank Size: 100 gallons

Temperature Range: 72 - 82°F (22 – 28°C)

Specific Gravity: 1.020 -1.026

pH: 8.0 - 8.5