🐠 Indian Vagabond Butterflyfish (Chaetodon decussatus)
Marine Fish-Only Butterflyfish • Silvery White With Chevron Pattern • Genuinely Hardy Once Established • Intermediate Marine Fish
 
📋 The Indian Vagabond Butterflyfish (Chaetodon decussatus), also known as the Black-Finned or Blackened Butterflyfish, has a silvery-white body covered in fine, intersecting grey lines forming a distinctive chevron pattern, a bold black bar through the eye, a mostly black rear portion, and bright yellow accents on the anal and caudal fins.
Native to the Central and Western Indian Ocean, from the Red Sea and East Africa to India, Sri Lanka, and the Andaman Sea, this species is found on coral-rich reefs and rubble zones, typically in pairs as adults.
This species is genuinely not reef safe — it feeds naturally on stony coral polyps, fanworms, anemones, and small invertebrates, and will nip at corals and ornamental shrimp in an aquarium setting, making it best suited to a spacious, mature fish-only aquarium. It can also be genuinely shy when newly introduced, and while it's known for feeding readily in many cases, some specimens can be slower to settle — offering clams on the half shell is a reliable trick for encouraging a hesitant new arrival. Once acclimated, it's considered one of the hardier butterflyfish available.
 
💡 Highlights
🎨 Silvery-White Chevron Pattern: Bold black bar and yellow fin accents
💪 Genuinely Hardy Once Established: One of the more resilient butterflyfish available
⚠️ Not Reef Safe: Will nip at corals, fanworms, and ornamental shrimp
🙈 Can Be Shy Initially: Patience and clam-on-shell feeding help new arrivals settle
👫 Naturally Pairs as Adults: Can be kept as a bonded pair in a large enough tank