Banded butterflyfish

Photo: Stella Tirelli · CC BY-NC

Banded butterflyfish are faithful partners: pairs mate for life and are almost never observed alone. They browse coral polyps and small invertebrates along the reef, and their abundance at Champagne Reef is a useful indicator of the hard coral health around the vent system. The warm vent water creates a microhabitat that draws unusual aggregations of juvenile fish seeking shelter in the altered temperature gradient.