Copperband butterflyfish facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Copperband butterflyfish |
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The copperband butterflyfish (Chelmon rostratus) is a beautiful fish. It is also called the beaked coral fish. You can find it living in reefs in the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. This type of butterflyfish is one of three species in the Chelmon group. All these fish have long, beak-like snouts.
What Does It Look Like?
These fish are easy to spot because of their bright yellow stripes and long snout. Young copperband butterflyfish look very much like the adults. They can grow up to 20 centimeters (about 8 inches) long.
The fish looks taller than it is long. This is because its body is flat and deep, with long fins on its back and rear. It has vertical yellow stripes on a white background. Its snout is long and thin. The fish's actual eye is dark, but it also has a dark, fake eye-spot on its back fin. This fake eye might confuse predators. Near its tail, there is a dark band that goes across it.
You can tell copperband butterflyfish apart from a similar fish, Chelmon marginalis, by their colors and the number of rays in their back fin.
Where Do They Live?
Copperband butterflyfish live in water that is 1 to 25 meters (about 3 to 82 feet) deep. You might see them alone or in pairs. When they are ready to have babies, they form pairs that stay together.
They usually live on coral reefs or along rocky coastlines. Sometimes, they can also be found in estuaries (where rivers meet the sea) and in muddy inner reefs. These fish like to have their own space and are territorial. They are also oviparous, which means they lay eggs.
Keeping Them in an Aquarium
Copperband butterflyfish can grow up to 20 centimeters (8 inches) in the wild. In a home aquarium, they are usually about half that size. They do best in a reef tank with temperatures between 24 to 29 °C (75 to 84 °F). They need a tank that is at least 75 gallons (about 284 liters) and has lots of live rock for them to explore and find food.
This fish is generally safe to keep in a reef aquarium with corals. It likes to eat many small invertebrates. This includes tiny tubeworms and certain types of anemones, like the common glass anemone (Aiptasia). Some people get copperband butterflyfish just to help get rid of these small pests in their tanks. However, Aiptasia is not their favorite food. These butterflyfish will eat most tube worms, worms that live in the sand, clams, and other small shellfish.
This fish is not recommended for people who are new to keeping aquariums. It needs very good tank conditions to stay healthy and survive.
