Red-tailed Butterflyfish
Chaetodon collare
- Class
- Ray-finned fish
- Rarity
- Common
- Observations
- 489
- Most observed in
- 🇲🇻 Maldives
- Conservation
- Least Concern
Description
The red-tailed butterflyfish (Chaetodon collare), also known as the brown butterflyfish, Pakistani butterflyfish or redtail butterflyfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. It can be found in reefs of the Indo-west Pacific region: from the Persian Gulf and Maldives to Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia. It usually swims at depths of between 3 and 15 m (10 and 50 ft). It can grow to 18 cm (over 7 in) in length. The red-tailed butterflyfish is brown to black, with lighter scales giving it a spotted appearance. It has a prominent, vertical white streak behind the eyes, a dark stripe over the eyes, and another, smaller white stripe in front of the eyes. The base of the tail is bright red, followed by a black stripe. The tip of the tail is diffuse white. In the wild, its diet consists of coral polyps. In captivity, it is a carnivore, taking fish meat and shrimp.
Summary adapted from the Wikipedia article “Redtail butterflyfish”.