Appearance and lifestyle:
The South African butterflyfish (Chaetodon marleyi) also known as the double sash butterflyfish has a whitish silver body with vertical orange bands "sashes" across, they can grow up to 20cm in length. They are usually seen in pairs, and they can live up to 4 years.
Habitat:
The oceans off southern Africa are home to more than 2 500 known species of fishes (almost 16% of all the known marine fish species in the world). This rich diversity is due to the variety of habitats in this region, ranging from estuaries, mud flats and sandy beaches; rocky shores, coral reefs and kelp beds to ocean depths of more than 5 000m.
About 16% of our coastal fishes are endemic to this region – this means that they are only found off southern Africa and nowhere else in the world. We are proud of them! The South African butterflyfish is endemic to our coast. Solitary juveniles can be seen in estuaries and tidal pools while pairs of adults prefer rocky and coral reefs at depths from 1 to 120m. This is the only butterflyfish species to be found in both the Indian (warm) and the Atlantic (cold) oceans.
Diet:
These fish feed on invertebrates, including small crabs and worms, which are picked from crevices on the reef. The adults tend to be more herbivorous than the juveniles and feed on a variety of seaweeds.
Threats:
The South African butterflyfish is currently not listed as endangered, but it does face some threats such as pollution, climate change, overfishing and habitat loss.