All fish / Chaetodontidae

Zanzibar butterflyfish

Chaetodon zanzibarensis

Also known as zanzibar butterfly fish, zanzibar butterfly, zanzibar butterflyfish, ザンジバルバタフライフィッシュ, 桑给巴尔蝴蝶鱼

A pale yellow to whitish butterflyfish with fine dark vertical lines, a large black spot in the middle of the flank and a dark band through the eye. It is kept by advanced reef fish enthusiasts for its tidy look and relative rarity in the trade.

Care at a glance

Care level

Hard

Temperament

Semi

Adult size

12 cm

Temperature

24 to 28 °C

pH

8.1 to 8.4

Smallest tank

400 litres

Keep as

Singly or as a mated pair

Diet

Carnivore: mostly coral polyps in the wild; try mysis, brine shrimp, chopped seafood and clam on the half shell

Swims

Middle of the tank

Lifespan

5 to 7 years

Water

Marine (saltwater)

Wild range

Western Indian Ocean: East Africa from Somalia to South Africa, Madagascar, Seychelles, Mauritius

Breeding

Pelagic spawner that releases eggs into open water, with a long planktonic larval stage. It has not been bred in home aquariums.

Good to know

A specialist coral feeder that often refuses aquarium foods and will pick at stony and soft corals, so it is unsuitable for most reef tanks. Can look similar to Chaetodon speculum and Chaetodon unimaculatus.