#acanthuriformes

Pinnate Batfish (Platax pinnatus), juvenile, family Ephippidae, order Acanthuriformes, Tulamben, Bali, Indonesia

The juveniles of this species mimic a toxic flatworm.

Pucker up for the brown sweetlips! Also known as the Harry hotlips or the humpback sweetlips, these fish are named for their large, blubbery lips. Rather than kissing, however, they are used to suck up food off the ocean floor and soft out the delicious algae and invertebrates from bits of rubble and sand.

(Sources - 1, 2, 3, 4)

Order: Acanthuriformes

Common Name: no common name for the collective order

Families: 28 - Gerreidae (“mojarras”), Sillaginidae (“smelt-whitings”), Moronidae (“temperate basses”), Drepaneidae (“sicklefishes”), Ephippidae (“spadefishes” and “batfishes”), Sciaenidae (“croakers” and “drums”), Dinopercidae (“cavebasses”), Haemulidae (“grunts”), Lobotidae (“tripletails” and “tigerperches”), Monodactylidae (“moonies”), Emmelichthyidae (“redbaits”), Lutjanidae (“snappers”), Malacanthidae (“tilefishes”), Latilidae (“deepwater tilefishes”), Pomacanthidae (“marine angelfishes”), Chaetodontidae (“butterflyfishes”), Leiognathidae (“ponyfishes”), Luvaridae (“Louvar”), Zanclidae (“Moorish Idol”), Acanthuridae (“surgeonfishes”, “tangs”, and “unicornfishes”), Callanthiidae (“splendid perches”), Nemipteridae (“threadfin breams”), Lethrinidae (“emperor breams”), Sparidae (“seabreams” and “porgies”), Siganidae (“rabbitfishes”), Scatophagidae (“scats”), Caproidae (“boarfishes”), and Antigoniinae (“deepwater boarfishes”)

Anatomy: anatomy varies between families

Diet: zooplankton, detritus, algae, cyanobacteria, worms, crustaceans, mollusks, smaller fish, echinoderms, sponges, tunicates, corals, anemones, jellyfish

Habitat: saltwater worldwide, some brackish and freshwater species

Evolved in: Late Paleocene

Propaganda under the cut:

Chaetodon kleinii

Blacklip Butterflyfish

Image source

Status: Least concern

A saddled butterflyfish (Chaetodon ephippium) in Bunaken Marine Park, Sulawesi, Indonesia

Scribbled Unicornfish Naso maculatus

Tetraodontiformes. This order contains many fishses with unusual body structures, such as boxfishes, which are boxy as the implies, pufferfishes, which are round and able to inflate, and the ocean sunfish, the largest bony fish.

Acanthuriformes. This order contains the blue tang, drum, moorish idol