Butterflyfish Feeding - The Great Fiji Butterflyfish Count

Feeding

Some Butterflyfish only eat the tentacles of the actual coral animals, and so are totally dependant on good coral health.

Others are less choosy and may feed on other small animals or algae around the reef, or even out in the deeper water.

If you find a reef is dominated by one or two species you may be able to draw some conclusions about the reef type in that area.

Common name	*Scientific name*	Hard Corals	Soft Corals	Benthic Invertebrates	Algae	Zooplankton
Bennetts butterfly	Chaetodon bennetti	X
Black butterfly	Chaetodon flavirostris	X		X	X
Blackbacked butterfly	Chaetodon melannotus	X	X
Bluespot butterfly	Chaetodon plebeius	X
Cheveroned butterfly	Chaetodon trifascialis	X			X
Dot and dash butterfly	Chaetodon pelewensis	X		X
Dotted butterfly	Chaetodon semeion
Double-saddled butterfly	Chaetodon ulietensis			X	X
Forceps butterfly	Forcipiger flavissimus			X
Fourspot butterfly	Chaetodon quadrimaculatus	X
Klein’s butterfly	Chaetodon kleinii			X		X
Latticed butterfly	Chaetodon rafflessi	X	X	X	X	X
Lined butterfly	Chaetodon linoelatus		X	X	X
Long-nosed butterfly	Forcipiger longirostris			X
Merten’s butterfly	Chaetodon mertensii			X	X
Ornate butterfly	Chaetodon ornatissimus	X
Pyramid butterfly	Hemitaurichthys polylepsis					X
Racoon butterfly	Chaetodon lunula	X	X	X	X	X
Redfin butterfly	Chaetodon lunulatus	X
Reticulated butterfly	Chaetodon reticulatus	X
Saddled butterfly	Chaetodon ephippium	X	X	X	X	X
Speckled butterfly	Chaetodon citrinellus	X	X	X	X	X
Spot-nape butterfly	Chaetodon oxycephalus		X
Teardrop butterfly	Chaetodon unimaculatus	X	X	X	X	X
Threadfin butterfly	Chaetodon auriga	X	X	X	X	X
Triangle butterfly	Chaetodon baronessa	X
Vagabond butterfly	Chaetodon vagabundus	X	X	X	X	X