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Chelmon rostratus

Copperband butterflyfish

The copperband butterflyfish, known in Italian as pesce farfalla dal rostro 6, is a western Pacific butterflyfish (Chaetodontidae) 1 with a beak-like elongated snout. 2 5 It has orange bars on the body and a false eyespot on the dorsal fin. 5 It lives on rocky coasts and shallow coral reefs, also in bays and estuaries. 2 5

ChaetodontidaeIUCN: Least concern
Chelmon rostratus

At a glance

Data from the scientific sources listed at the bottom.

Depth in the wild

1–25 m

0 m6 m12 m18 m24 m30 m

Size

up to 20 cm

048121620

maximum total length

Conservation

NEDDLCNTVUENCREWEX

IUCN Red List: least concern (2009). Red List data taken from FishBase and GBIF. 2 6 It does not appear in the CITES lists checked on Species+. 7 It is of minor importance to fisheries and is often exported for the aquarium trade. 2 4

Where it lives

Red SeaWestern Indian OceanEastern Indian OceanCentral Indo-PacificWestern PacificCentral PacificEastern PacificWestern AtlanticEastern AtlanticMediterranean

From the Andaman Sea through the Indo-Malay region to southern Japan and Australia. 2 4 In Australia it is recorded from Exmouth Gulf and the northern Great Barrier Reef to Botany Bay, near Sydney. 5

How to recognise it

Tap a number on the photo: the key explains what to look for.

1234
  1. 1False eyespot on the dorsal fin 5
  2. 2Thin orange bars on the head and front of the body; here the fish is seen from behind 5
  3. 3Broad yellowish-orange band on the rear part of the body 5
  4. 4White crescent bar splits the rear band 5

Life in the wild

Where it is found

Rocky coasts and coral reefs, including sediment-rich inner reefs and estuaries. 2 5 FAO gives a narrower band, between 3 and 20 m. 4

What it eats

It eats crabs, worms and other invertebrates. 4 Filmed in the laboratory at high speed while catching live Artemia, it used suction and a forward lunge of the body together. 8

Behaviour

Territorial, it is seen alone or in pairs 2; FAO usually describes it in pairs. 4 Like other butterflyfish it has strong spines on the dorsal and anal fins, but no prominent spines on the cheek. 3 FishBase classes it as harmless to humans. 2

Reproduction

It lays eggs and is monogamous: adults form pairs when breeding. 2

In the aquarium

From the experience of the BallingMania community.

Community rating
Level in the tank
lowmediumhigh
Coral compatibility
lowmediumhigh
Aggression
lowmediumhigh
Care difficulty
lowmediumhigh
Original sheet

A fish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae, an animal coming from the Indian Ocean and the central-western Pacific: Madagascar, Mauritius, the Seychelles, the Maldives, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, the Philippines, the Australian Great Barrier Reef, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Samoa and Taiwan.

In the wild it lives in the shallow waters of lagoon areas or close to the reef cliff. The livery is a matt white, crossed by countless thin horizontal lead-grey lines; on the body there are five large vertical orange bands; the second-to-last of these bars widens onto the dorsal fin, surrounding a black spot edged with turquoise that looks like an eye; the pelvic fins are white with an orange front part, while the pectoral and caudal fins are semi-transparent; on the caudal peduncle there is also a small black vertical bar.

To keep it in a tank, excellent water quality is needed; not a very hardy fish

Species sheet by Massimo Ramognino and photo by Dirk Simons

Did you know?

The name rostratus comes from Latin and means «beaked», because of the long snout. 5
The maximum reported age is 10 years. 2
Linnaeus described it in 1758 as Chaetodon rostratus. 5

Sources

  1. WoRMS Editorial Board (2026). Chelmon rostratus (Linnaeus, 1758). World Register of Marine Species.
  2. Froese R., Pauly D. (eds.) (2026). Chelmon rostratus, Copperband butterflyfish. FishBase.
  3. Pyle R., in Carpenter K.E., Niem V.H. (eds.) (2001). Chaetodontidae. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific, vol. 5. FAO.
  4. Pyle R., in Carpenter K.E., Niem V.H. (eds.) (2001). Chelmon rostratus. The living marine resources of the Western Central Pacific, vol. 5. FAO.
  5. Bray D.J. (2020). Chelmon rostratus, in Fishes of Australia. Museums Victoria.
  6. GBIF Secretariat (2026). Chelmon rostratus, common names and IUCN Red List category. GBIF.
  7. UNEP-WCMC (2026). Search for Chelmon rostratus in the CITES lists. Species+.
  8. Ferry-Graham L.A., Wainwright P.C., Bellwood D.R. (2001). Prey capture in long-jawed butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae): the functional basis of novel feeding habits. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology.

Sources checked on 5 November 2026. Community texts and ratings are kept separate from the scientific data.

View the original sheet (Italian)All species