Orangetail Butterflyfish

Facts about the Orangetail Butterflyfish, it is a species of fish that belongs to the Chaetodon genus of the Chaetodontidae family. The scientific name of the fish is Chaetodon xanthurus and it is called by 10 other names, among which some of the most called names include Philippines Chevron Butterflyfish, Crosshatch Butterflyfish, Yellowtail Butterflyfish, and Netted Butterflyfish. This Orangetail Butterflyfish is a native of the Philippines and Indonesia, so it is commonly called the Philippines Chevron Butterflyfish. In spite of its arresting look, the Orangetail Butterflyfish species is hard to differentiate from some of its family members, and it can only be recognized from their native habitat. The Orangetail Butterflyfish are an extremely pretty fish species that come in three different attractive body colors, such as orange, black, and white.

Features

The Orangetail Butterflyfish is a moderate size fish that can grow to a maximum length of 5.5 inches (14 cm), and it has a striking color pattern. The Orangetail Butterflyfish has a blue silver colored body with black edges on its shining body scales. This offers its body a zigzag pattern and lustrous shine. The majority of the posterior of the Orangetail Butterflyfish is orange in color and it has a silver-bordered black streak through its eyes. It is pronounced with a black color eye bar to the facade and a bright orange red on the back.

The Orangetail Butterflyfish species can be seen at a depth that ranges from 33 feet to 165 feet (10 meters to 50 meters). Their natural home ranges from lucid coastal to external reef slants and drop-offs where the live coral reefs are abundant. Juvenile Orangetail Butterflyfish are lone and shy and they will generally be seen near the sheltered regions and they generally live unaccompanied or in duos.

The Orangetail Butterflyfish has a rather lengthened, disc fashioned body, which is tangentially compressed and it has a projecting nose tipped with a petite mouth. It has an uninterrupted dorsal fin and a curtailed tail fin.

When kept in aquarium, the Orangetail Butterflyfish needs a lot of room to house its size, so they are supposed to be kept in a tank with a minimum capacity of 55 gallons and a bigger tank may be required if more than one fish is maintained. The tank is supposed to be well equipped with rocks and, or corals with a lot of hiding places.

In a reef setting, the Orangetail Butterflyfish fish can be maintained with some of the more harmful soft corals. This fish class does not have a character as a coral consumer, but it may take cysts of some rocky coral species, so it is not a suitable fish for the coral-affluent reefs.

Diet

The Orangetail Butterflyfish is an omnivorous fish, and in the wild, it mostly feeds on algae and benthic invertebrates. In the wild, juvenile Orangetail Butterflyfish will feed on algae and tiny benthic invertebrates. In the aquarium, the adult Orangetail Butterflyfish is nourished with a vitamin-rich meaty diet, dried out flakes, tablets, shrimps, and frozen foods of all types and spirulina. They are also fed with quite a lot of sponge derived frozen foods.

The average lifespan of the Orangetail Butterflyfish species ranges from 5 years to 7 years, but they may live longer in aquarium if they get appropriate care.