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Ornate Butterfly Fish
Chaetodon ornatissimus
19.3508, -156.081
Field Notes
Description:
The Ornate Butterfly fish has six diagonal, parallel orange stripes on the side against a white body, as pictured. The head of this fish is yellow with four vertical black bands on its head, one of which follows the top of the body down into the tail section. It grows to nearly a foot in length, which is the maximum I have seen. Those pictured are about 10 inches.
Habitat:
This salt-water fish was spotted while diving off the big island of Hawaii, in about 60 feet of water in a coral-encrusted area. They seem to favor areas of dense coral, in calmer waters such as seaward reefs and lagoons. This fish is found in into-pacific regions from Sri Lanka to Hawaii, as well as Micronesia.
Notes:
The Ornate Butterfly feeds on coral polyps, and when spotted those pictured were randomly picking at coral, swimming slowly through the reef. They are very shy and difficult to approach. Getting a good photo of a ‘grazing’ pair can at times be a challenge. I am usually more successful when I sit in one place for a period of time and let them come close as they work the reef. Aside from their beauty, the other notable trait is they are almost always swimming in pairs. Rarely have i seen them swimming alone. If you see one…the mate is usually in close proximity.
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