Latticed Butterflyfish (Chaetodon rafflesii)
Fish in the family Chaetodontidae. Hard care. Reef Safe.
Quick facts
Appearance
The Latticed Butterflyfish has a pale yellow to cream-colored body with a distinctive overlaid pattern of dark diagonal lines creating a latticed or reticulated appearance. The body is disc-shaped and compressed laterally, with a pointed snout and small mouth typical of plankton-feeding butterflyfishes. A dark eye stripe extends from the snout through the eye.
Diet and feeding
Feed high-quality frozen zooplankton (copepods, mysis shrimp) multiple times daily. This species requires frequent small feeding sessions to meet its high metabolic needs and is difficult to convert to prepared foods.
Difficulty and care for the Latticed Butterflyfish
This species is challenging for most aquarists due to its specialized planktivorous diet and reluctance to accept prepared foods. It requires consistent feeding of live or high-quality frozen zooplankton and may starve in systems without adequate natural food production or supplementation.
Common health issues
Starvation from inadequate food supply, parasitic infections (ich, velvet), nutritional deficiencies
Origin and habitat
Indo-Pacific region from Indonesia and the Philippines westward through the Great Barrier Reef and Indian Ocean to the Red Sea and East Africa.
Log Latticed Butterflyfish in your reef tank
Reef Trak gives you the full record on every species in your tank: acquisition date, source, photos, parameters at time of stocking, and links to maintenance and feeding events. Track Latticed Butterflyfish alongside everything else in your reef.
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