Copperband butterflyfish

Care at a glance

The copperband butterflyfish is silvery white with copper-orange bars and a long, thin snout with which it probes crevices and holes for worms and small crustaceans, like a pair of tweezers. It is often bought to clear up aiptasia, but whether it does so varies a great deal per individual.

It is sensitive and awkward at feeding time: many individuals refuse everything at first and need live or fresh food to get started. So pick a specimen you can see eating in the shop, put it in a large, richly grown reef tank, and note that it may pick at feather duster tubes and clams.

Good to know

• Needs a mature, stable tank
• Hard to wean onto dry food

Related species

• Bicolor angelfishCentropyge bicolor
• Harlequin tuskfishChoerodon fasciatus
• Emperor angelfishPomacanthus imperator
• Leopard wrasseMacropharyngodon meleagris
• Exquisite fairy wrasseCirrhilabrus exquisitus
• Zebra lionfishDendrochirus zebra