Peacock Razorfish

Iniistius pavo can be identified by the dark vertical bar situated below the eye. This species has a small dark spot below the forward portion of the dorsal fin, a white patch behind the side behind the pectoral fin, and an oblique brown bar underneath the eye. It normally shows 5 dark bars when adult when the belly of female turns red. Juveniles have a black anal fin and two large eyespots which have narrow white margins in their dorsal fin. The first two spines in the dorsal fin form a separate fin. It has a highly compressed body and a steep, sharp-edged forehead, like other members of the genus Iniistius. In juveniles this separate fin formed by the first two spines takes the form of a long, bannerlike filament but as the fish ages this shortens. The colour of the juveniles varies from whitish with dark bars on the body, to an overall brown colour. The small juveniles drift in the water mimicking leaves and debris. This fish may attain a total length of 42 centimetres (17 in).

Iniistius pavo has an Indo-Pacific distribution which extends from the Red Sea and the east African coast as far south as KwaZulu-Natal eastwards to the Society Islands, north to southern Japan and Hawaii and south to New Caledonia, Lord Howe Island and New South Wales. It also occurs in the Eastern Pacific from the Gulf of California to Panama and the Galapagos Islands.