Details
Chelmon rostratus
The copperband butterflyfish is an Indo-Pacific butterflyfish with a long snout and coppery bands. It plucks small prey from cracks and crevices in reef habitat.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It inhabits coral reefs, rocky reefs, lagoons, and sheltered shallow bays in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Branching coral and crevice-rich rock are favored.
Length is 15-20 cm and weight 80-150 g. The white body has copper vertical bands, a dark eyespot near the rear of the dorsal fin, and a long tweezer-like mouth.
Diurnal fish often move in pairs. They travel slowly over reef surfaces, inserting the slender snout into holes and gaps.
A carnivore, it eats worms, small crustaceans, and tiny animals hidden among corals and rocks. The long mouth helps reach prey inaccessible to many fishes.
Pairs release eggs and sperm into the water column during spawning. Larvae drift for a period before settling onto reefs.
It is listed as Least Concern. Known in the aquarium trade, it can be difficult to keep because of its specialized feeding, and wild fish rely on complex reef structure.
