🐠 Threadfin Butterflyfish (Chaetodon auriga)
A White Body With Diagonal Chevron Stripes • A Yellow Rear Half and a Bold Eye Bar • One of the Hardier, More Beginner-Friendly Butterflyfish
 
📋 The Threadfin Butterflyfish, also known as the Auriga Butterflyfish, has a striking bright white body crossed with diagonal chevron-like black stripes, a bold black eye bar, and a rear half washed in yellow. Most specimens show a black eyespot high on the dorsal fin, though Red Sea specimens naturally lack this marking. Only with maturity does a long, pennant-like filament extend from the dorsal fin, the true source of its common name.
It comes from a vast range across the Indo-Pacific, from the Red Sea and East Africa to Hawaii and French Polynesia, and it's one of the hardier, more accessible butterflyfish, even successfully captive-bred. Every Threadfin Butterflyfish we ship is feeding well.
It's not reef safe, and its natural diet includes coral polyps, sea anemones, and other invertebrates, though there's a welcome upside: it's well documented to readily eat Aiptasia (glass anemones), a real bonus in a fish-only setup. It can be shy at first, benefiting from multiple hiding places during acclimation, and while generally peaceful, it can be territorial toward other butterflyfish with a similar pattern. It reaches up to 23cm, so plan on at least 285L.
 
💡 Highlights
🎨 White Body With Chevron Stripes: A classic, striking butterflyfish pattern
💪 One of the Hardier Butterflyfish: Adapts well and has been successfully captive-bred
🦐 Readily Eats Aiptasia: A well-documented, welcome bonus in fish-only tanks
🪸 Not Reef Safe: Will nip at coral polyps and other invertebrates
🧵 A Threadfin Filament: Develops only with maturity, giving the species its name