Auriga Butterfly (Asia Pacific)

The beautiful Auriga, or Threadfin butterflyfish, is a striking fish with a bold black mask over its eyes and an eyespot on its dorsal fin. Its body is snowy white in front and lemony yellow in the rear, and is decorated with criss-cross lines. Mature fish have a trailing fin ray from their dorsal fin. It grows up to 9 inches and needs an aquarium of at least 125 gallons. It is regularly imported from Bali.

This species can be quite aggressive towards its own kind and those with similar color patterns. If several are to be kept together they must be added at the same time to a large aquarium. It is normally non-aggressive with all other types of fish. Butterflyfish do not show differences between males and females. They are related to angelfish, but lack the angel's distinctive cheek spines.

A butterflyfish's favorite food is an anemone, so they should not be kept in the same aquarium with one unless it is guarded by aggressive clownfish. The butterflyfish knows to attack the anemone on its mouth, which does not sting, and will make a quick meal of it. Because of this behavior this species is often employed to rid an aquarium of pest anemones such as Aiptasia. Many species of butterfly also benefit from filamentous algae in the aquarium to graze on.

This species may nip on many types of corals, clam mantles, sponges, feather dusters. They do not typically bother other types of invertebrates such as crustaceans. They feel most secure when there is plenty of live rock to hide in, as well as open space for swimming. This species is easy to feed on a variety of meaty and herbivore preparations such as frozen Mysis shrimp, enriched brine shrimp, half shell clams, marine algae and Spirulina; it should be fed 2-3 times a day.