Threadfin Butterflyfish

1 Species Overview

The threadfin butterflyfish in the wild likes rubble zones, algae beds, rocky reefs, or coral reefs. It is gentle, a small warm-water coral-reef fish, not hard to keep, and not for food.

Subclass: Actinopterygii

Latin name: Chaetodon auriga

Species: Threadfin butterflyfish

Chinese name: Threadfin butterflyfish

Family: Chaetodontidae

Order: Perciformes

Class: Osteichthyes

Phylum: Chordata

Kingdom: Animalia

Genus: Chaetodon

Subphylum: Vertebrata

Origin: Indo-Pacific

2 Appearance and Physical Traits

The threadfin butterflyfish, also the streamer butterflyfish, is elegant in both wild and captive settings. It is yellow and gentle, mixing with other gentle ornamental fish.

The body is oval and very compressed. The snout is long and conical. The dorsal soft-ray part has a filament extension, below which is an eye-spot larger than the eye. A horizontal band crosses through the eye on the head side. The upper body has 7 to 8 oblique lines meeting at right angles the 9 to 10 oblique lines on the belly side. The caudal fin rear edge is truncate or slightly convex.

3 Habitat and Living Environment

Because it is marine, many keepers wonder about water. In fact it is not hard; just attend to water. Keep pH 8.1 to 8.4 and temperature 22 to 26 C.

The threadfin butterflyfish is a pretty small fish living among coral in the wild, 65 to 145 mm long, so a suitable tank is needed. In the wild it ranges across tropical Indian and Pacific warm waters; in China it is found in the South China Sea. Also give it 8 to 10 hours of light daily.

4 Feeding Guidelines

Butterflyfish often refuse food, and the threadfin butterflyfish can too in captivity. Though not hard to keep, training it to feed matters.

It is omnivorous; in captivity feed coral polyps, polychaetes, crustaceans, and gastropods, also animal foods and algae, frozen, dried, or prepared. Also, it is gentle, a small warm-water reef fish, and a high-value ornamental, so scientific feeding matters.