Moorish idol

Table of Contents

Introduction References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Moorish idols (Zanclus canescens) in the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Queensland, Australia.

Read Next

Spider monkey swinging in a tree. (primate, jungle animal)

Why Do Animals Have Tails?

animal. Amphibian. Frog. Anura. Ranidae. Frog in grass.

Abundant Animals: The Most Numerous Organisms in the World

Sea horse or Seahorse, Hippocampus. Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata, Class: Actinopterygii, Order: Syngnathiformes, Family: Syngnathidae, Subfamily: Hippocampinae

9 Fish Named After Other Animals

Japanese spider crab

10 Animals With Evolutionary Traits Plucked Straight Out of a Nightmare

Malayan Leaf Frog - Megophrys nasuta

9 Animals That Look Like Leaves

Discover

New York NY/ USA- November 23, 2018 Hordes of shoppers throng the Macy's Herald Square flagship store in New York looking for bargains on the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday.

Why Is It Called Black Friday?

A Factory Interior, watercolor, pen and gray ink, graphite, and white goache on wove paper by unknown artist, c. 1871-91; in the Yale Center for British Art. Industrial Revolution England

Inventors and Inventions of the Industrial Revolution

Thumbnail for flags that look alike quiz Russia, Slovenia, Iceland, Norway

Flags That Look Alike

Super Typhoon Noru over the western tropical Pacific Ocean as observed by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA Aqua satellite July 31 2017

What Is the Difference Between a Typhoon and a Super Typhoon?

Santa Claus flying in his sleigh, christmas, reindeer

Was Santa Claus a Real Person?

Thanksgiving Turkey with all the sides

Why Do We Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving?

Iraqi Army Soldiers from the 9th Mechanized Division learning to operate and maintain M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks at Besmaya Combat Training Center, Baghdad, Iraq, 2011. Military training. Iraq war. U.S. Army

8 Deadliest Wars of the 21st Century

Moorish idol

fish

Also known as: Zanclus canescens, Zanclus cornutus

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Moorish idols (Zanclus canescens) in the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Queensland, Australia. — Moorish idols (Zanclus canescens) in the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of Queensland, Australia.

Moorish idol, (Zanclus cornutus), deep-bodied tropical and subtropical reef fish, commonly placed alone in the family Zanclidae (order Perciformes). The Moorish idol is a striking-looking fish—thin, deeper than it is long, and with a protruding, beaklike mouth and a dorsal fin greatly extended in front. An Indo-Pacific fish, relatively common and found in shallow water, it is about 18 cm (7 inches) long and is boldly patterned with three vertical black stripes on a yellowish body.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.