Just like
butterfly fish, skipper butterflies rely on jumping ballistic movements to evade predators, but they propel themselves through the air, not the water.
Ocean specialists have spotted larvae of
butterfly fish, angelfish, and other tropical sea life floating in coastal waters as far north as Woods Hole, Mass.
Multi-hued parrotfish, fluttery
butterfly fish, small stingrays and comical pork fish dart among the snorkelers.
The most common families are the Pomacentridae (angelfish, damselfish and clownfish), the Holocentridae (soldierfish and squirrelfish), Chaetodonitidae (
butterfly fish) Acanthuridae (surgeonfish, named for the sharp spines at the base of the tail), the Muraenidae (moray eels), the Serranidae (sea-bass and groupers), the Scaridae (parrotfish, named for the shape of their mouths, capable of rasping the hard coral), and the Balistidae (triggerfish).
If you think the term "reef fish" applies only to those dainty
butterfly fish you see in aquariums, you might be interested to know that surgeonfish, sea chubs, unicornfish, porgy, and other weird, good-eating ocean fish commonly break the 10pound mark.
We looked another way, and there were pairs of
butterfly fish swimming together.
For example, the 20-inch long
Butterfly Fish pictured here will cost you a cool pounds 250.
And all around are the brilliantly-coloured fish of the coral reef - a pair of angel fish with eyes only for each other; pink and turquoise parrot fish;
butterfly fish and sea cucumbers who look like giant caterpillars.
And decide that to get more attention, they'll outfit the teams in uniforms the color of those long-nose
butterfly fish."
But also absent were things like
butterfly fish, which people like to look at."