Blacknosed Butterflyfish

The cheeky, intelligent Blacknosed butterflyfish might seem as if they want to swim with and around you, following you as you enter the underwater world… However, they tend to have alterior motives when following divers, using them as camouflage in efforts to eat the eggs of Sergent Major fish. As divers get closer to explore the reef, Sergent Major fish usually shy away, leaving their nest of eggs exposed. This makes lunchtime an easy task for the Black-Nosed Butterfly fish when divers are in the area.

The Blacknosed Butterflyfish also go by the name Barberfish, hanging out in corals and rocky reefs between 6 and 12 meters in large schools making them a sight divers of all abilities are able to see.

In their large schools they tend to form cleaning stations and maintain a symbiotic relationship with other fish where eating crustaceans and paracites off the skin of bigger fish.

These particular butterflyfish are found in abundance throughout the Pacific, and are a common sighting all year round when diving in Bahía Solano as a result of their love for tropical waters.

• 📇 Common Names: Blacknosed butterflyfish, Barber fish
• 🔬 Scientific Name: Johnrandallia nigrirostris
• 🐟 Family: Chaetodontidae
• 🏋️‍♀️ Weight: unknown
• 📏 Length: Usually around 5 inches, however, adults can grow up to 8 inches or 20.3 cm

🧜‍♂️ Habitat: East Pacific from the Gulf of California South to the Galápagos. It is usually found in shallow waters in coral reefs and rocky areas between 6 and 12 meters.

🥙 Diet: Algae, molluscs, they pec small parasites, worms and crustaceans off the skin of other, bigger fish.

⛽️ Fun Fact: They like to eat the eggs of Sergeant Major fish when they are given the opportunity and will follow divers in order to do so.