Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised May 31, 2026

Forcipiger

Forcipiger is a genus of fish in the family Chaetodontidae, the butterflyfishes. It is distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region. The name of this genus means “bearing forceps” and is a reference to the long, slender snouts of the species in this genus.

Last revised
May 31, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
264 w
Citations
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Source
Wikipedia ↗
Forcipiger
Forcipiger flavissimus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Acanthuriformes
Family: Chaetodontidae
Genus: Forcipiger
D. S. Jordan & E. A. McGregor, 1898
Type species
Chaetodon longirostris
Broussonet, 17821

Forcipiger is a genus of fish in the family Chaetodontidae, the butterflyfishes. It is distributed throughout the Indo-Pacific region. The name of this genus means “bearing forceps” and is a reference to the long, slender snouts of the species in this genus.2

Species

There are currently three recognized species in this genus:34

Species Common name Image
Forcipiger flavissimus

D. S. Jordan & E. A. McGregor, 1898

yellow longnose butterflyfish
Forcipiger longirostris

(Broussonet, 1782)

longnose butterflyfish
Forcipiger wanai

G. R. Allen, Erdmann & Sbrocco, 20124

Cenderawasih longnose butterflyfish

Some authorities recognise a fourth species, F. cyrano,5 but this taxon is not treated as valid by Fishbase.3

References

References

  1. Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Genera in the family Chaetodontidae". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  2. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (21 July 2020). "Order ACANTHURIFORMES (part 1): Families LOBOTIDAE, POMACANTHIDAE, DREPANEIDAE and CHAETODONTIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  3. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Forcipiger". FishBase. February 2013 version.
  4. Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. (2012): Reef Fishes of the East Indies. Volumes I-III. Tropical Reef Research, Perth, Australia. 1292pp. University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 978-0-9872600-0-0
  5. Fricke, Ron; Eschmeyer, William N. & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Forcipiger". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 22 November 2020.