Red Sea raccoon butterflyfish

The Red Sea raccoon butterflyfish (Chaetodon fasciatus) is an endemic treasure of the Red Sea: this species lives only here and around the Gulf of Aden. Slanting dark bands run across its vivid orange body, and a broad black mask covers the eye – its English name comes from that bandit's disguise. Among the things separating it from its close Indo-Pacific relative Chaetodon lunula is the missing white band above the mask.

The black eye mask is more than decoration: it hides the fish's most vulnerable point, the eye, making it harder for predators to guess which way it will flee. By day it roams the coral gardens in pairs or loose small groups, feeding on a mixed menu of coral polyps, small worms and algae. With the laterally flattened body typical of butterflyfish, it slips effortlessly between coral branches when it senses danger.

It is very common around Hurghada, and since it favours shallow reef tops as well, you regularly meet it while snorkeling. In the El Fanadir coral garden, on the Giftun plateaus and in the bay of Abu Hashish an encounter is almost certain – you will recognise the orange, striped pairs from metres away as they busily inspect the coral surfaces.