Raccoon butterflyfish

Although the coloration of this group varies greatly, they are all largish butterflyfishes with an oval outline, and most have a pattern of ascending oblique stripes on the flanks.Except in the red-tailed butterflyfish, there is at least a vestigial form of the "raccoon" mask, with a white space between the dark crown and eye areas.[2] These large butterflyfishes have an oval outline, with a pattern of ascending oblique reddish stripes on the flanks and black and white bands over the face and eyes, similar to the "raccoon" mask (hence the common name).They will eliminate this nuisance pest within a two- to six-week period depending on the anemone population and size of the tank; however, they will eagerly feed on any soft corals and may cause more harm than good to the decoration.In a confined environment, this species is prone to succumbing to "marine ich", infection by the ciliate Cryptocaryon irritans.
Group of the related Chaetodon fasciatus in the Red Sea
Israeli postal stamp, 1962
Chaetodon lunulatusHawaiʻisea urchinThalassoma duperreyConservation statusLeast ConcernIUCN 3.1Scientific classificationEukaryotaAnimaliaChordataActinopterygiiAcanthuriformesChaetodontidaeChaetodonChaetodon (Rabdophorus)Binomial nameLacépèdeSynonymsCuvierspeciesray-finned fishbutterflyfishfamilydescribedfrenchnaturalistsubgenusdiagonal butterflyfishblack butterflyfishC. flavirostrisPhilippine butterflyfishredtail butterflyfishraccoonIndo-PacificAtlanticlionfishtriggerfishpredatorAiptasiasea anemonesciliateCryptocaryon irritansIUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesFroese, RainerFishBaseEschmeyer, William N.Catalog of FishesCalifornia Academy of SciencesBibcodeWikidataWikispeciesiNaturalistObservation.org