Moorish Idol

• GeneralAlmost impossible to keep in a home aquarium; it is Gill in 'Finding Nemo'.
• It is the only living member of its family, Zanclidae: it has no close relatives among today's fish.
• Its larva drifts in the open sea for months, far longer than that of most reef fish, which explains why the species is spread right across the Indo-Pacific.
• It is often confused with the longfin bannerfish, but that fish belongs to a completely different family.
• It is the only living species in its family and its genus: it has no close relatives, and is considered a direct descendant of the fossil Eozanclus brevirostris.
• Its larval phase is among the longest of any reef fish: around seventy days in the plankton. Juveniles settle at 7.5 cm, almost five times the usual size for a reef fish at settlement.
• That wandering larva explains two things at once: its enormous distribution, from East Africa to Hawaii and the Gulf of California, and the fact that its colouration does not vary at all from one region to another.
• Adults pair for life.
• It is among the marine fish most sought after in the aquarium hobby and among the hardest to keep: mortality exceeds 90% in the first months, because most captured individuals refuse any food offered.
• It has never been bred in a home aquarium.
• It has been recorded in Florida, outside its range, probably from aquarium releases.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (fish)

Habitat & environment

Coral reefs and shallow lagoons

Sources consulted: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanclus_cornutus