🐠 Redtail Butterflyfish (Chaetodon collare)
A Brown-Black Body With Golden Lattice Spotting • A Bright Red Tail Base • A Striking, Peaceful Butterflyfish
 
📋 The Redtail Butterflyfish, also widely known as the Pakistan or Collare Butterflyfish, has a striking appearance: a rich brown-to-black body with light, golden-spotted scales creating a lattice pattern, a mask-like head marked by two white vertical bands with a black stripe through the eyes, and a base of the tail edged in bright red then black then white.
It comes from a wide range across the Indo-West Pacific, from the Persian Gulf and Maldives to Japan, the Philippines, and Indonesia, inhabiting coral reef edges and upper slopes, usually in pairs or small aggregations. Every Redtail Butterflyfish we ship is feeding well, and a calm, careful introduction helps it settle in confidently.
It's not reef safe, and its natural diet includes soft and stony coral polyps, though there's an interesting bonus: some specimens have been documented eating Aiptasia (glass anemones), a welcome bonus in a fish-only setup, though this isn't guaranteed with every individual. It's peaceful toward most tankmates, though avoid housing it with very small fish, and it can be kept as a simultaneously introduced pair or singly. It reaches up to 18cm, so plan on at least 285L, and 470L or more for a pair.
 
💡 Highlights
🎨 Brown-Black Body With Golden Spotting: A striking, distinctive lattice pattern
🔴 Bright Red Tail Base: The source of its common name
🍽️ Ships Feeding Well: A calm introduction helps it settle confidently
🦐 A Possible Aiptasia Eater: A bonus for some individuals, not guaranteed
🪸 Not Reef Safe: Will nip at soft and stony coral polyps