Spotfin Butterflyfish

Butterflyfish

Chaetodon ocellatus

Size: juveniles 1-2"; adults to 6"

Habitat: inlets and rivers, late in the season

Notes: The adult fish is shown above, the juvenile below.

The best time to view or capture these fishes is at night when they are asleep. During the day they are wary and very quick. Nighttime coloration is completely different from daytime - dark vertical bars and blotches over the entire body.

Butterflyfish
In aquarium
Butterflyfish
Nighttime colors in the wild
Herb Segars Photography


An Aquarium For the Naturalist

By Ronald M. Clayton
Illustrations by author

Maintaining an aquarium filled with local fish and other aquatics can be an enjoyable, learning experience, and give you a good excuse to get out and stomp around in your local pond or stream. It's fun collecting new animals and plants to add to the aquarium, to replace ones that have died, or as food for your locally acquired fish, and learning about your wildlife is a fascinating part of the experience. In the shimmering shallows and mysterious depths of almost any nearby body of water thrives a whole world of living things, some very ugly and some very beautiful - the variety will amaze you. If you are interested in providing inexpensive recreation and education for yourself and perhaps your family, read on.