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Butterflyfish

Butterfly fish ~ African Butterflyfish ~ African Butterfly Fish Family: Pantodontidae

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Pantodon buchholzi Photo © Animal-World: Courtesy Matthew O\'Sullivan

   It's pretty obvious why they call this the "Butterfly fish", seen from above the pectoral fins are prettily patterned and look just like butterfly wings!

   Introduced in 1905, the unique and fascinating African Butterfly Fish is the only member of its species or family. Its widespread pectoral fins have lead to the designation of Butterfly Fish. These fins, a silvery brownish green patterned with dark markings, allow this fish to glide short distances across the surface of the water.

  The Butterfly Fish, also known as the African Butterfly Fish, is generally a good community fish. They can be a bit intolerant of other surface swimming fish however, and have been known to nip fins. They are a predator and will eat small fish. But on a positive note, they also become quite tame and will eat food from your fingers.

   The Butterfly Fish like a loosely planted shallow aquarium best, about 6 to 8 inches (15-20 cm) deep. One that has more length and width to it rather than depth gives them a large surface area. They do like some floating plant cover to lurk under as well. Be sure you have a good cover on the aquarium as this fish is an excellent jumper. See more butterfly fish facts below.

For more Information on keeping this fish see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Freshwater Aquarium

Dream Aquarium Build your own aquarium The Coolest and Funnest Screensaver in the World.

Distribution:
   The Butterfly Fish, also called the African Butterflyfish or Freshwater Butterflyfish, was described by Peters in 1876. They are found in West Africa, Nigeria, Cameroons, Zaire.

Status:
   The species is not listed on the IUCN Red List.

Description:
   The Butterfly fish is also known as the African Butterfly Fish, African Butterflyfish, or Freshwater Butterflyfish. It has a flat head and back that is a light brown or greenish color with a silver sheen and has dark markings on the fins and underside. Its large pectoral fins are widespread and it uses them to glide over short distances. The wide lizard-like mouth is upturned at the top of the body, and true to form it eats all manner of surface insects..

Size - Weight:
   The African Butterfly Fish generally get up to 4 inches (10 cm) in the aquarium. Most of the Butterfly Fish that we have seen are full grown or close to it.

Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom:
   These fish will swim in the top of the aquarium. It is best to keep it with other fish that swim in the middle or bottom of the aquarium.

Acceptable Water Conditions:
   Hardness: 8-12° dGH
   Ph: 6.5 to 7.0
   Temp: 77-82° F (25-28° C)

Social Behaviors:
   They are generally a good community fish although they may eat small fish.

Sexual Differences:
   The male is slimmer than the female, though that is hard to distinquish unless the female is fat due to carrying eggs. The rear edge of the anal fin of the male describes a convex curve and the fin rays form a tube (which is the genital organ). The rear edge of the female anal fin is straight.

Breeding/Reproduction:
   Water conditions: The values given above were taken from the recommended breeding conditions.
   These fish are rather difficult to breed and peat filtration is recommended. Feed a pair with a large variety of live foods to induce spawning. Once spawning begins, 3 to 7 eggs will be produced at each pass. The eggs will float to the surface where you can use a spoon to transfer them to another aquarium. The pairing will continue for some time with a total of 80 to 200 eggs dropped per day. The eggs will hatch in about 36 hours. The fry are difficult to raise as they will only eat foods that float directly in front of their mouths. Some ideas on what to feed them can be found in Live Fish Foods, Foods for fish fry.

Buy Africn Butterflyfish From LiveAquaria.com

Availability:
   The Butterflyfish, African Butterflyfish, or Freshwater Butterflyfish is usually available.

Author: David Brough

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Latest Comments
Do these fish have poison glands or Barbs on them... Out of curiosity, I touched mine on the top gently, and my finger burned like I got stung by 5 fire ants for about 10 min. I won't be doing that again. XD. AJ 2008-06-18
I love these guys, I'm thinking of getting a few to add with my african lung sometime in the future. Their habit of staying at the surface works well with my predatorial bottom feeding lungfish. Atkin 2008-06-11
I have in my pond, about an acre, an albino catfish which would probably weigh between 8 to 10 lbs. It has survived numerous osprey, that dive my pond frequently after fish. Also aligators, very visible and very pretty. I was just wondering if anyone has any info or would like for me to send pictures. thank you for responding. Gary hedman 2008-06-10
If you are lucky enough to have one or more of these great fish, enjoy them. I recently lost both of mine (they are in the picture above) and spent the past couple of weeks looking for replacements. I ended up driving 30 miles to get them. The cool part is when i was waiting in line at the pet shop everyone in line wanted to know what they were. Now I get to teach two more fish all about eating spiders Matt 2007-08-11
My son's just brough one of these fantastic fish and its happy in my 70L tank. The long finned zebra danios are fully grown and the only fish that could be at risk. He enjoys twilight feeding of discus food from hand and spends noon sheltering under the floating plants. If the carnivous plants dont get any flys first, I shall feed the flys to him. jon 2007-04-30
Some of the coolest comments:
Sometimes when I put one food item in the tank, like a daddy long leg spider, the butterfly may lose track of it. When they do, they will get agitated and swum back & forth in a "search pattern" until they find it & then pounce. The other thing I have noticed is that while they normally ignore the other fish in the tank, there are two exceptions. First, when a fish accidentally swims between them and the unfortunate bug, they will bully them out of the way. Secondly, when I put a lot of prey in the tank, 10 or 12 small crickets from the pet shop, they will go into a shark like "feeding frenzy" and will chase and snap at smaller fish which make the mistake of being on the surface at the time. Matt O'Sullivan 2006-09-20
I have kept African Butterflies for about 9 years. I had one for 6 before he passed away. Most of the shops in my area stopped carrying them. I found one & my wife brouht another from the same shop on the same day. We keep them in a 50 U.S. gallon community tank. They generally ignore the other fish. They love daddy long leg spiders and moths. We have recently started feeding them crickets from the pet store, react like sharks at the smell of blood. When they see a single prey item, they will slowly stalk until in position & then move very quickly. I have seen them get agressive with each other during feeding time, otherwise they stay at opposite ends of the tank. Be warned, you need a tight fitting lid or you will lose them. Matt 2006-03-28
Comments Dr Jungle REALLY Likes to Hear!
Well done! very good info. Rowan 2008-03-04

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