Rainford’s Butterflyfish

Habitat: Natural geographic location:
   The Rainford’s Butterflyfish was described by McCulloch in 1923. It was first collected in Horbourne Island, off Port Denison, Queensland of Australia. They are found in the Queensland, Great Barrier Reef, Lord Howe Island and southeastern Papua, New Guinea. They are one of the most common species seen in the lagoons off of Queensland.
   Adults often are seen in mated pairs in their natural habitat of coastal lagoons, reef slopes, and off-shore areas. They are also encountered in small groups on occasion. Juveniles can be observed in a group in coral rich localities. They dwell in clear coral-rich areas, rocky reefs, and reef-patch slopes at depths between 3 - 49 feet (1 - 15 meters).
   This species may be one of the ancestors of the more common Eightband Butterflyfish C. octofasciatus that ranges widely in the western Pacific, though not reaching Australia. All the stripes of the Eightband Butterflyfish have changed to yellow under some influence of circumstance. The distribution of the Eightband Butterflyfish does not overlap with that of Rainford’s Butterflyfish. In Papua New Guinea the latter is seen in southern part, and the former in the rest of the island.
   The Golden Butterflyfish C. aureofasciatus co-occurs with Rainford’s Butterflyfish C. rainfordi both in Australia and southern Papua, New Guinea, and a hybrid cross of the two is reproduced.

Status:
   These fish are not listed on the IUCN Red List.

Description:
   The body of the adult Rainford’s Butterflyfish is yellow with white bars behind the eye, several slightly curving orangish yellow bars running on the side, and some dark areas with dots between the bars centrally. There is an orangish area on the caudal peduncle and a yellow bar on face. The fins are yellow.   Juveniles are similar but with a black spot edged by white on the caudal peduncle.
    It is closely related to the Golden Butterflyfish C. aureofasciatus, the Eightband Butterflyfish C. octofasciatus, and the Three-striped Butterflyfish C. tricinctus in shape and the four species form a distinct group, the subgenus Discochaetodon. They can only be readily identified by their individual color patterns. This subgenus is restricted almost entirely to the Western Pacific and of these four, the Eightband Butterflyfish C. octofasciatus is the most widely ranging.
   A hybrid cross of the Rainsford's Butterflyfish and the Golden Butterflyfish is observed and shipped from Australia on rare occasions. The hybridized specimens almost always have obscure bars on the side.

Length/Diameter of fish:
   Adults will reach about 5.9 inches (15 cm), but most specimens available are are less than 4 1/3 inches (11 cm). According to Burgess (1978), its standard length at maximum was 5 1/2 inches (14 cm) and the total one may reach is 6.3 inches (16 cm).

Maintenance difficulty:
   The Rainsford's Butterflyfish is one of the difficult Butterflyfish to keep in the captive environment. They have a poor history of sustainability as many will refuse to eat. A few specimens have been successfully encouraged to accept substitute foods. Smaller specimens under 3.9 inches (10 cm) will acclimate better than adults and do best in an aquarium with lush filamentous algae growth. Keeping it with a few hardier butterflyfish can also help encourage it to try substitute foods. It is not recommended for reef-type aquariums as it is fond of the live polyps of stony and soft corals, with the possible exception of some of the more toxic soft corals.
   Many of the Chaetodon members are often very colorful and attractive to aquarists. Unfortunately some of them are rather difficult to keep for a long period. Some are exclusively coral eaters, and sometimes they suffer from “ich” (white spot disease) and other infectious diseases.They can be treated successfully with medical care or copper drugs, but some species hate sudden changes of water including PH, temperature, or any drug treatment.
   The Rainsford's Butterflyfish is not overly hardy and can be sensitive to changes in the water.
   In the wild a cleaner wrasse (Labroides sp.) will help them by taking parasites from their bodies, however these wrasses are extremely difficult to sustain in captivity. Alternative fish such as Neon Gobies (Gobiosoma spp.) can help them by providing this cleaning service in the home aquarium.

Diseases that Marine Butterflyfish are susceptible to:
Marine Ich(white spot disease), Marine Velvet, Uronema marinum, and Lymphocystis

Dr. Jungle says, "Hiroyuki shares his experience keeping this butterflyfish..."
" I have kept one adult individual of some 8cm in a fish community tank, but this beautiful butterflyfish denied any food and starved to death." ...Hiroyuki Tanaka

Foods:
   Though the diet of the Rainford's Butterflyfish is not currently documented, they are reported to feed on corals and algae. In captivity the best chance of success is to place it in a tank with lush filamentous algae for it to browse on, and keep it with a few other hardy butterflyfish to help enticed it to accept substitute foods. You can try various live foods such as clams with their shells cracked open, live brine and mysid shrimps, and commercially prepared formulas containing algae; along with a variety of meaty foods, dried flakes, tablets, and Japanese Nori (Asakusa-nori).
   As it is fond of the live polyps of stony and soft corals, it can not be recommended for a reef tank, but if you want to keep it alive they should be provide some kinds of live coral. At first feed it frequently everyday then feed it at least twice a day. Juveniles and younger specimen should try to be fed more than three to four times. In this way the chance to acclimatize them may come true.
   Juveniles tend to accept various foods and will be more successfully kept than adults. Keep in mind that most cases will fail. Even if it accepts some foods like algae it will not be a hardy pet and most possibly not survive.

Maintenance:
   Frequent water changes are not necessary, rather normal water changes at 10% biweekly or 20% monthly are fine. Sudden massive water changes can cause trouble, and it may be somewhat sensitive to water change.
   For more information see, Marine Aquarium Basics: Maintenance

Aquarium Parameters:
   It is not a very quick swimmer, seldom will it go up to the surface to take foods. Provide lots of rock/ corals with many cracks and crevices where it can hide or keep motionless. As small individuals will often be recorded from a mouth of the Noosa River of southern Queensland, the species could tolerate a lower level of salinity (Burgess, 1978).
Minimum Tank Length/Size:
   A minimum 55 gallon (208 liters), though much larger and kept with companions is better.
Light: Recommended light levels
   It is best kept under the normal lighting conditions, but can also be kept under very bright light as long as some dimly lit spaces are provided.
Temperature:
   This species lives in both tropical and sub-tropical areas. Temperatures between 70 -81° F (21 - 27° C) will serve them well, but temperatures higher than 84° F (29° C) or below 66° F (19° C) would not be good.
Water Movement: Weak, Moderate, Strong
   Water movement is not a significant factor. It can tolerate a rather strong flow but a tank with slow-moving waters will be the best
Water Region: Top, Middle, Bottom
   It will swim freely in the open water, but it also retreats into cracks and crevices.

Social Behaviors:
   The Rainford's Butterflyfish is a non-reef safe fish. Though it does well in a coral-rich tank, it will nip the polyps of hard stony coral species. It it best kept in a fish only community tank that is well decorated with rocks/ corals and many hiding places.
   This species is generally not an aggressive fish and can be kept with other butterflyfish species. It can even be kept with others of its own kind, though there will be occasional bouts where they will chase and nip each other. Though it is best kept with other tank mates that are not overly territorial or aggressive, it can be kept with the larger and rather territorial angelfish like Pomacanthus and Holacanthus. Angelfish like members of Centropyge, Apolemichthys, Genicanthus, Chaetodontoplus and Pygoplites would also be good tank mates. Smaller non-aggressive fishes like cardinalfish, gobies, tilefish, fairy basslets, fairy and flasher wrasses, etc. are also good candidates as tank mates.
   Small but very territorial fish like dottybacks should be avoided. Such fish as Basses or scorpionfish, even if they are small enough, should also be avoided.

Sex: Sexual differences:
   No sexual difference is noted for this species, however they are gonochoristic, meaning that each fish is either a male or a female and they do not change sex.

Breeding/Reproduction:
   This species has not been cultivated in captivity. However it is known that they become sexually mature at two years of age and spawn between November and March.
   Marine butterflyfish have not reportedly been spawned successfully in captivity. There are, however, reports of some success in rearing wild collected larvae of some of the corallivorous butterflyfish. It is hoped these captive reared fish will be adapted to accept aquarium foods, and thus broaden the species selections that can be sustained in captivity.
   For more information see, Marine Fish Breeding. 

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Availability:
   The Rainford's Butterflyfish are occasionally available at retailers. Most are smaller than 4.3 inches (11 cm), but juveniles less than 2 inches (5 cm) are rare. It is a somewhat more costly butterflyfish, starting at about $30.00 USD and up.