🐠 Moorish Idol (Zanclus cornutus)
Bold Black, White and Yellow Bands With a Streaming Dorsal Filament • The Sole Living Member of Its Family • A Specialist Feeder for Expert Keepers
 
📋 The Moorish Idol is one of the most iconic fish on any coral reef, with a striking laterally compressed, disc-like body in bold black, white, and yellow bands, an elongated tubular snout adapted for probing crevices, and a dramatically elongated, trailing dorsal fin filament. As the sole living member of its family, Zanclidae, it has no close living relatives.
It comes from a vast range across the Indo-Pacific, from East Africa and the Red Sea to Hawaii and the Eastern Pacific, inhabiting coral and rocky reefs at depths of 3 to 180 metres, feeding naturally on sponges, tunicates, algae, and small invertebrates. Every Moorish Idol we ship is feeding well.
This is one of the most specialised feeders in the hobby, because it naturally grazes on sponges and tunicates that are hard to replicate in a home aquarium. It's a tireless, restless swimmer that needs a very large, spacious tank, and it's peaceful and shy, easily outcompeted for food by more assertive tankmates. It isn't reef safe, and will often eat zoanthids and other sessile invertebrates. This species suits expert aquarists with a mature, spacious, well-established system and a live-food feeding plan in place, and our team is happy to help you prepare. It reaches up to 23cm, so a 750L tank suits it well at minimum, with a larger tank suiting this tireless swimmer even better.
 
💡 Highlights
🎨 Bold Black, White and Yellow Bands: An instantly recognisable reef icon
🧬 The Sole Member of Its Family: The only living species in Zanclidae
🏊 A Restless, Tireless Swimmer: Needs a very large tank
🧠 For Expert Keepers: Ships feeding well, with our team's help to plan
🌿 Not Reef Safe: Will often eat zoanthids and other sessile invertebrates