🐠 Raccoon Butterflyfish (Chaetodon lunula)
A Bright Yellow Body With a Bold Black "Raccoon Mask" • Crescent Markings at Head and Tail • A Hardy, Adaptable Butterflyfish
 
📋 The Raccoon Butterflyfish, also sold in some markets as the Crescent Masked Butterflyfish, has a striking bright yellow body with a bold black band across the eyes resembling a raccoon's mask, along with crescent-shaped markings at the head and tail that give the species its scientific name, meaning "crescent."
It comes from a vast range across the Indo-Pacific, from East Africa to Hawaii and Polynesia, and south to Lord Howe Island, inhabiting shallow reef flats, lagoons, and seaward reefs to depths of over 30 metres. A naming note: in the Red Sea, the similarly common-named "Raccoon Butterfly" actually refers to a distinct species, Chaetodon fasciatus, since this species doesn't occur there. Every Raccoon Butterflyfish we ship is feeding well.
It's one of the hardier, more adaptable butterflyfish species, and while naturally nocturnal in the wild, sheltering under coral ledges by day and emerging at dusk to feed, captive specimens often become active during the day as they settle in. It's territorial toward its own kind and other butterflyfish, so a large tank is needed if keeping more than one. It's not reef safe, and will eat coral polyps, invertebrates, and algae, though it's also a documented natural predator of nuisance Aiptasia anemones. It reaches up to 20cm, so plan on at least 280L, and 570L or more for more than one.
 
💡 Highlights
🎨 Yellow Body With a Black "Raccoon Mask": An iconic, widely recognised butterflyfish
🌙 Naturally Nocturnal: Often grows more day-active once settled
💪 One of the Hardier Butterflyfish: Adaptable and resilient
🐌 A Documented Aiptasia Hunter: A useful natural predator of this pest
🪸 Not Reef Safe: Will eat coral polyps and invertebrates