Scythemarked Butterflyfish

1 Scythemarked Butterflyfish Overview

The Scythemarked Butterflyfish resembles other butterflyfish but is named for a black sickle-shaped band, also called Scythe Butterflyfish. Minimum tank 265 liters.

English name: Scythemarked butterflyfish

Type: Butterflyfish, tropical marine fish

Origin: Eastern Pacific, from Los Angeles to California waters

Breeding: Egg-laying (oviparous)

Water quality: pH 8.1–8.4; specific gravity 1.020–1.025

Care level: Hard

Suitable temperature: 16–20°C

2 Appearance

More special than other butterflyfish; the black sickle band earns ‘Scythe Butterflyfish’. Minimum tank 265 liters.

Adult is tall and egg-shaped; head top flat, nasal area concave. Snout protrudes as a short tube mouth. Jaws short forceps-like with fine dense teeth. Small scales; lateral line rises steeply to dorsal spines 9–10 then drops to caudal base. Single dorsal. White body with a black sickle band from anal soft rays via caudal peduncle to dorsal base and throat—hence ‘Scythe Butterflyfish’. Head has a black eye-band from dorsal base to eye, narrower than eye and extending to snout, yellow from eye to snout. Dorsal black with yellow inner edge; anal yellow with black edge on soft part; pelvic yellow with white edge; pectoral base yellow, rear white transparent; caudal peduncle yellow; caudal white transparent.

3 Habitat

Keep pH 8.1–8.4, specific gravity 1.020–1.025, temperature 16–20°C.

Always quarantine for parasites; they are a major death cause. The fish have weak resistance; bacteria cannot be quarantined. Drugs kill parasites with little effect on fish and nitrifying bacteria, but sterilization needs killing both, so bacterial infection cannot be fully cured by drugs. General bacterial infection is mainly from ammonia or stress; remove these and it improves. Antibacterials work poorly.

4 Feeding

Training to feed matters; many butterflyfish refuse food after moving. How to train?

Common raw foods: frozen shrimp meat, clams, bloodworms; brine shrimp and artemia not recommended, as saltwater fish lack immunity to freshwater bacteria—if used, cook. Fish that won’t eat clams/shrimp usually won’t eat bloodworms; artemia is mostly water with low nutrition.