Millet Butterflyfish Video Stock Footage

The millet butterflyfish grows to a maximum length of 13 cm (5 in). It is a deep-bodied, laterally flattened fish. The dorsal fin has 13 to 14 spines and 20 to 23 soft rays and the anal fin has 2 to 3 spines and 17 to 20 soft rays. The general body colour is whitish or yellow, with a number of vertical rows of dark spots on the flanks. A broad black stripe runs from above the eye to the base of the operculum, and there is a large black patch on the caudal peduncle. This butterflyfish is sometimes collected from the wild for the aquarium trade. Its feeding habits make it more suitable for keeping in a reef aquarium than more specialist butterflyfish species that feed on scleractinian corals. Although rare at Johnston Atoll, it is plentiful around the Hawaiian Islands. The International Union for Conservation of Nature believes that the population is stable and that collection has little impact, and they assess the conservation status of this fish as being of "least concern". Learn more about Millet Butterflyfish