Bennett’s Butterflyfish

Bennett’s Butterflyfish

The Bennett’s Butterflyfish Chaetodon bennetti is an exotic beauty, a visual treat for the scuba diver and aquarist alike. It is moderately sized reaching at most 7 inches (18 cm) in length, and it has a dramatic color patterning. It has a gold background contrasted with strong decorative accents. The eyespot on the flank and the stripe running through the eye are dark brown outlined in white, and there are white angular stripes forming an arrow-like design. These decorative markings have led to several other common names including Bluelashed Butterflyfish, Archer Butterflyfish, and Eclipse Butterflyfish.

This fish is popular and is reasonably priced but unfortunately it is one of the difficult butterflyfish to keep in a captive environment. Like all Butterflyfish they are corallivorous, but they take it a step further. They are obligatory coralfeeders that must have corals as a primary part of their diet. These types of fish have a specialized diet that poses a difficult problem for the aquarist. Providing a coral diet is expensive and challenging.