Spot-banded Butterflyfish

Spot-banded Butterflyfish

The Spot-banded Butterflyfish Chaetodon punctatofasciatus is an attractive and relatively hardy species. It has a hearty appetite and will take a variety of foods and still won’t outgrow your aquarium. It only reaches a length of up to 5 inches (12 cm) at the maximum. It is one of the easier butterflyfish to keep in captive environment and once acclimated it will even go up to the surface to take foods from its keeper.

This fish is all about spots, dots, and bands. Its color pattern is quite attractive and interesting. The body is a yellow tan on the lower half, becoming yellow on top. It has seven dark vertical bands and spots all over. The spotting on the upper half forms broken vertical stripes while those on the lower half become horizontal stripes. It has a yellow eyebar outlined in black that become dark brown on the eye itself. There is a yellow margin on the dorsal fin and a bright orange patch running through the caudal peduncle. There are a bunch of common names used to describe it. Sometimes you may hear it called the Punctato Butterflyfish, Sevenband Butterflyfish, Spotband Butterflyfish, Spotted Belly Butterflyfish, and Spots and Bands Coralfish.