🐠 Latticed Butterflyfish (Chaetodon rafflesii)
A Yellow Body With a Dark Lattice-Like Scale Pattern • A Fascinating Colour-Shifting Camouflage • A Hardy, Distinctive Find
 
📋 The Latticed Butterflyfish, also known as Raffle's Butterflyfish or Raffles' Coralfish, has a striking, uniformly yellow body with dark scale margins creating a distinctive lattice or pineapple-like grid pattern, a black band running through the eye, and a blue patch between the eyes.
It comes from a wide range across the Indo-Pacific, from Sri Lanka to the Tuamoto Islands, north to southern Japan and south to the Great Barrier Reef, inhabiting reef environments at shallow depths. A fascinating documented behaviour: this species can shift to a darker, shadowy appearance with a dark blotch on the front of its body, both at night to blend into its surroundings and when stressed, including for a period after first being introduced to a new tank. That colour shift is completely normal, and it should still feed and behave typically during this time. Every Latticed Butterflyfish we ship is feeding well.
Some individuals are documented to eat glass anemones (Aiptasia), though this isn't guaranteed for every specimen. It's a somewhat nocturnal species that adapts well to daytime aquarium schedules, and is best kept as a solitary specimen or a pair, as it's found in pairs in the wild. It's not reef safe, and will nip at corals and anemones. It reaches up to 18cm, so plan on at least 280L.
 
💡 Highlights
🎨 Yellow Body With a Lattice-Like Scale Pattern: A distinctive, sought-after butterflyfish
🌓 Colour-Shifting Camouflage: Darkens at night or when stressed, a real natural behaviour
🦐 A Possible Aiptasia Eater: Not guaranteed, but documented in some individuals
🪸 Not Reef Safe: Will nip at corals and anemones
💪 Hardy: Adapts well to aquarium lighting and feeding schedules