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Masked Butterflyfish

Fish · Least Concern

Masked Butterflyfish

Chaetodon semilarvatus

About

The blue-cheeked butterflyfish is a marine ray-finned fish of the butterflyfish family, Chaetodontidae, found in the north-western Indian Ocean.

Family
Chaetodontidae
Avg size
20-23 cm
Habitat
This is a common fish of areas with rich coral growth, usually seen in pairs or small shoals and found at depths between 1 and 20 metres (3.3 and 65.6 ft). It will sometimes hover motionless for long stretches beneath the ledges of plate corals of the genus Acropora.
Behaviour
The blue-cheeked butterflyfish is one of the few fishes to keep long-term mates. In the wild it eats hard corals along with bottom-dwelling invertebrates. It is an egg-laying species that forms pairs to spawn, typically by day, and the fish emerge to become active at night.

Where & when

Where & When to See It

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