Keith DP Wilson, UK
Info
Guichenot, 1863
Chaetodon melapterus, also known as Black-finned Melon Butterflyfish, Blackfin Butterflyfish and Arabian Butterflyfish is to be found in the middle of the Red Sea down and around Yemen, Oman into the Persian Gulf, this is another "principally coral polyp feeder".
The body of the Arabian Butterflyfish is oval shaped, bright orange-yellow with head dark purple to black with two orange bands vertically. Pectorals hyaline, others including caudal are dark brown-black, banded exteriorally orange.
Chaetodon melapterus lives in coral rich areas of shallow coastal reefs; occasionally in aggregations. They feed exclusively on coral polyps and nothing else.
The Arabian Butterflyfish should never be taken out of the ocean as they eat nothing but corals and chances of survival are almost zero. There isn’t a reason that any store should be selling any of these Butterfly fish.
Remarks:
Butterflyfish are not recommended for reefs as they will pick at or eat a wide variety of corals, fan worms, and other invertebrates. Most Butterflyfish are known to pick at Aiptaisia, a parasitic anemone.
Synonyms:
Chaetodon melanopterus Playfair, 1867
Chaetodon trifasciatus arabica Steindachner, 1899
Choetodon melapterus Guichenot, 1863
Classification: Biota > Animalia (Kingdom) > Chordata (Phylum) > Vertebrata (Subphylum) > Gnathostomata (Superclass) > Pisces (Superclass) > Actinopteri (Class) > Perciformes (Order) > Percoidei (Suborder) > Chaetodontidae (Family) > Chaetodon (Genus) > Chaetodon melapterus (Species)
Chaetodon melapterus, also known as Black-finned Melon Butterflyfish, Blackfin Butterflyfish and Arabian Butterflyfish is to be found in the middle of the Red Sea down and around Yemen, Oman into the Persian Gulf, this is another "principally coral polyp feeder".
The body of the Arabian Butterflyfish is oval shaped, bright orange-yellow with head dark purple to black with two orange bands vertically. Pectorals hyaline, others including caudal are dark brown-black, banded exteriorally orange.
Chaetodon melapterus lives in coral rich areas of shallow coastal reefs; occasionally in aggregations. They feed exclusively on coral polyps and nothing else.
The Arabian Butterflyfish should never be taken out of the ocean as they eat nothing but corals and chances of survival are almost zero. There isn’t a reason that any store should be selling any of these Butterfly fish.
Remarks:
Butterflyfish are not recommended for reefs as they will pick at or eat a wide variety of corals, fan worms, and other invertebrates. Most Butterflyfish are known to pick at Aiptaisia, a parasitic anemone.
Synonyms:
Chaetodon melanopterus Playfair, 1867
Chaetodon trifasciatus arabica Steindachner, 1899
Choetodon melapterus Guichenot, 1863
Classification: Biota > Animalia (Kingdom) > Chordata (Phylum) > Vertebrata (Subphylum) > Gnathostomata (Superclass) > Pisces (Superclass) > Actinopteri (Class) > Perciformes (Order) > Percoidei (Suborder) > Chaetodontidae (Family) > Chaetodon (Genus) > Chaetodon melapterus (Species)
