🐠 Yellow Longnose Butterflyfish (Forcipiger flavissimus)
A Bright Yellow Body With a Divided Black-and-White Face • A Long, Pointed Forceps-Like Snout • One of the Hardiest Butterflyfish
 
📋 A note on naming: the Yellow Longnose Butterflyfish is very similar in appearance to the Big Longnose Butterflyfish (Forcipiger longirostris), which has an even longer, more slender snout. A more reliable way to distinguish them is by checking the chest: the Big Longnose displays a cluster of small black dots there, while this species does not, and the black facial colouration covers the entire eye on the Big Longnose, versus a silver lower portion of the eye on this species.
This species, also known as the Forceps Fish or Forcepsfish, has a bright yellow body with a horizontally divided black-and-white face and a long, pointed snout resembling a pair of forceps, used to pick food from crevices and between coral heads. It comes from a vast distribution spanning Melanesia, Africa, Hawaii, and the Indo-Pacific, found singly or in schools on reef flats and slopes. Every Yellow Longnose Butterflyfish we ship is feeding well.
Unlike most butterflyfish, which are notoriously touchy in aquariums, this species is considered one of the "good" butterflies, being quite hardy once properly acclimated, and it's documented feeding on nuisance Aiptasia anemones. It also displays an eccentric behaviour, occasionally swimming and hanging upside down in the water, and can spit water toward the surface like a tiny fountain. It's reef safe with caution: it may nip at sessile invertebrates and corals, so monitor closely in a mixed reef display. It reaches up to 22cm, so plan on at least 265L.
 
💡 Highlights
🎨 Yellow Body With a Divided Black-White Face: An iconic, distinctive butterflyfish
🔍 A Naming Note Worth Knowing: Easily confused with the Big Longnose Butterflyfish
🦐 Documented Aiptasia Eater: One of the "good" Aiptasia-eating butterflyfish
🍽️ Ships Feeding Well: One of the hardier, less fussy butterflyfish
🙃 Eccentric Behaviour: Hangs upside down and spits water above the surface