All fish / Chaetodontidae

Four-banded Butterflyfish

Chaetodon hoefleri

Also known as four banded butterflyfish, hoefler's butterflyfish, hoefleri butterflyfish, west african butterflyfish, fourband butterflyfish, 霍氏蝴蝶鱼

A pale, deep-bodied butterflyfish with dark vertical bands across the body and yellow-edged fins. It comes from cooler, deeper West African waters, so it is kept mainly by specialists who want an unusual Atlantic species.

Care at a glance

Care level

Hard

Temperament

Semi

Adult size

15 cm

Temperature

20 to 26 °C

pH

8.1 to 8.4

Smallest tank

500 litres

Keep as

Single fish or a mated pair

Diet

Omnivore: mysis, chopped shellfish and squid, brine shrimp, marine algae and quality frozen mixes

Swims

Middle of the tank

Lifespan

5 to 10 years

Water

Marine (saltwater)

Wild range

Eastern Atlantic: West Africa from Morocco and the Canary Islands south to Angola

Breeding

It scatters pelagic eggs in open water, and the larvae pass through a long planktonic stage. It has not been bred in home aquariums.

Good to know

Not reef safe, because it picks at corals, anemones and tubeworms. It prefers slightly cooler water than most tropical reef fish, and it is rarely sold, so wild-caught fish can be hard to wean onto prepared foods.