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Species Details

Details of Redtail butterflyfish will be displayed below

Redtail butterflyf...   

Common Name: Red-tailed butterflyfish
Scientific Name: Chaetodon collare
Local Name: Kalaru bibee
Dhivehi Name: ކަލަރުބިބީ
Animalia  (Kingdom)
Chordata  (Plylum)
Actinopterygii  (Class)
Perciformes  (Order)
Chaetodontidae  (Family)
Chaetodon   (Genus)

Redtail butterflyfish's description

The Redtail butterflyfish or Red-tailed butterflyfish (Chaetodon collare), is a species of butterflyfish (family Chaetodontidae).

Distinctive Characters - It can grow to 18 cm (over 7 in) in length. Dorsal fin with 12 spines and 25-28 rays. Anal fin with 3 spines and 20-22 rays. Pectoral fin with 14-15 rays. Body depth 1.4 in standard length.
Colour - Body essentially dark brown. Broad white band across back of head, with finer white markings on snout. Rest of face dark brown/ black. Anterior portion of caudal fin red.

Redtail butterflyfish's Relationship with Humans

Red-tailed butterflyfish (Chaetodon collare) is a very sedate mover, and with its rather fine colouration is a very noble looking fish. A popular aquarium fish.

Redtail butterflyfish habitat

This species occurs on rocky shoreline reefs and coral-rich outer reefs in relatively shallow water (Allen 1980, G.R. Allen pers. comm. 2006). It is usually seen in pairs, but can form large aggregations. It feeds predominantly on coral polyps when available, but also occurs in areas where coral is scarce (Allen 1980, Pyle 2001, G.R. Allen pers. comm. 2006).

Redtail butterflyfish threats

This species feeds on live coral, and may therefore decline in abundance following climate-induced coral depletion (Pratchett et al. 2008). However, it naturally occurs in coastal habitats with limited coral, where it appears to feed on algae (Allen et al. 1998). There have been no documented declines in the abundance of C. collare associated with coral loss, and there appear to be no other major threats to this species.

Redtail butterflyfish's status