Forcipiger flavissimus
| Latin name | Forcipiger flavissimus - Jordan & McGregor, 1898 |
|---|---|
| Local name | Longnose butterfly fish |
| Family | Chaetodontidae - Forcipiger |
| Origin | East Indian Ocean, West Indian Ocean, Australia, Japan, The Red Sea, Indonesia, East Pacific, Central/West Pacific |
| Max length | 22 cm (8.7") |
| Minimum volume |
400 l (106 gal) 
|
|---|---|
| Hardiness |
Average
|
| Suitable for aquarium |
Suitable with care
|
| Reef safe |
Often reef safe
|
| Aggressiveness | Mostly peaceful but might be aggressive towards similar species |
| Recommended |
Larger crustaceans (Shrimp, crabs...) Other invertebrates Small crustaceans (Krill, mysis, artemia...) Zooplankton (Cyclops, pods...) |
|---|---|
| Maybee |
Large polyp stone coral (LPS) Soft coral |
This species likes to eat tubeworms.
This species sometimes nibbles at clams including Tridacna species.
This species must be fed with an appropriately varied diet.
These fish flourish better without other members of the same species in the aquarium.
This species thrives best when there is a sufficiently large amount of micro life (copepods, amphipods or similar) in the aquarium, so that the it can always find their own food.
This fish requires feeding several times a day, especially when newly added.
When the fish can find its natural food in the aquarium it requires less frequent feeding.
These fish eat exceptionally slowly and can be very selective feeders.
It can therefore be problematic to provide it with a sufficient and varied diet, in an aquarium with other, faster feeding species.
This species eats glass anemones (Aiptasia).
But occasionally one finds an individual fish which refuses to eat them.
This species can be very shy when first introduced into a new aquarium.
More aggressive fish can be introduced after this species has acclimatized.
This species can be distinguished from F. longirostris by the shorter snout and the white area on the lower part of the eye.
The Butterflyfish are known for their attractive patterns and colours. They are closely related to Angelfishs, but can always be distinguished, as they lack the spines on each side of the head of the Angelfish.
A smaller group of these fish will seek out primairily soft corals, like Zoanthus. A larger part of the species will target different types of LPS corals. Butterflyfish are also known to seek out anemones, tubeworms and bristleworms.
Therefore it is important to choose the correct species in relation to the corals wanted, if one desires to keep Butterflyfish in a coral-aquarium.
Bristleworms, tubeworms and other small invertebrates are also a part of the diet for many Butterflyfish.
It can be problematic, with many of these species, to get them eating in the beginning, but many of the species cannot resist live zooplankton or live mussels with crushed shells. Another option is to mimic their natural behaviour by stuffing their food into coral skeletons or stones.
They ignore most other fish and are generally peaceful, therefore multiple Butterflyfish will have no problem living together. One should however be cautious about keeping similar species together unless they are a couple.
As these fish can be difficult to acclimatize and get feeding, it is important to buy healthy fish, to avoid having to deal with more problems. Make sure to check that they do not have parasites or any visible infections.
There are some species that should not be kept in an a aquarium, as they are food specialists and will almost always refuse to eat replacement foods. It can be possible to breed some species, which will eat frozen foods. Otherwise the only way to keep food specialists is by feeding them their natural diet, which consists of live SPS or LPS corals for example.
| Aquarium trade | Yes |
|---|---|
| Distribution | Indo-Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa (Ref. 12484) to the Hawaiian and Easter islands, north to southern Japan, south to Lord Howe Island; throughout Micronesia. Eastern Pacific: southern Baja California, Mexico and from the Revillagigedo and Galapagos |
| English common names |
Yellow long nose butterfly Long-nosed coralfish Longnosed butterflyfish Longsnouted butterflyfish Long-snouted butterfly fish Longnose butterfly fish Longnose butterflyfish Long-nosed butterflyfish Long nose butterfly Forceps fish Forcepsfish |
| Danish common names |
Gul pincetfisk |
| French common names |
Chelmon à long bec Poisson pincette à long nez |
Bob Fenner. The Yellow Longnose Butterflyfishes, Genus Forcipiger - Wet Web Media - (English)
Scott W. Michael. 2004. Angelfishes and Butterflyfishes (Reef Fishes Series Book 3) TFH Publications / Microcosm Ltd. - (English)
Bob Fenner. Butterflyfishes; Separating the Good Ones and Those You Don't Want - Wet Web Media - (English)
Collection of links to additional information - Wet Web Media - (English)
Tea Yi Kai. 2014. Reef Nuggets 2: Aquatic Lepidopterans for your reef (Revised edition) - Reef Builders - (English)