Common Name: Blackback Butterflyfish
Species Name: Chaetodon melannotus Bloch & Schneider, 1801
Range: Widespread in the Indo-Pacific Ocean and Red Sea
Size: up to 6 inches (15 cm)
Natural Environment: Inhabit rich coral areas at depths between 3 - 100 feet (1 - 30 m)
General Husbandry: Has a temperature range of 74 - 82°F (23 - 28°C) and natural diet consists of live corals, worms, algae, clams, and crustaceans. Fairly easy to acclimate in the aquarium and will accept a wide range of foodstuffs. Requires a variety of frozen foods (meaty and algae) which can be supplemented with flake foods with numerous feedings per day. Provide very open caves and crevices for it to hide in when feeling threatened or wanting rest. If there's such a thing as the top best ten butterflies to keep, this is one of them.
Aquarium Suitability: * *
Anemonefishes - Angelfishes - Anthias - Assessors - Bannerfish - Basslets (Dottybacks and Grammas) - Batfishes - Blennies - Boxfishes - Brotulas - Butterflyfishes - Cardinalfishes - Catfishes - Cuttlefish - Damselfishes - Dartfishes - Dragonets - Drums - Eels - Filefishes - Flashlight fishes - Flatheads - Frogfishes - Goatfishes - Gobies - Groupers - Hamlets - Hawkfishes - Helmut Gurnards - Jacks - Jawfishes - Lion fishes - Livebearing Brotula - Lizardfishes - Mollies - Moorish Idol - Parrotfishes - Pinecone fishes - Pipefishes - Porcupine fishes - Pufferfishes - Rabbitfishes - Rays - Sand Perches - Scats - Scorpionfishes - Seabasses - Seahorses - Sea Moths - Sharks - Shrimpfishes - Snappers - Soldierfishes - Spinecheeks - Squirrelfishes - Surgeonfishes (Tangs) - Sweetlips - Tilefishes - Triggerfishes - Trumpetfishes - Wrasses
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* - Suited for the reef aquarium;
** - Better suited for the fish-only aquarium;
*** - Better left in nature;
**** - Needing an aquarium larger than 125 gallons; and,
***** - Needing their own private environment/special tankmates.