Blacktail butterflyfish

The blacktail butterflyfish (Chaetodon austriacus), also known as black-tailed butterflyfish or exquisite butterflyfish, is a species marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. It is native to the western Indian Ocean but has reached the Mediterraean Sea as a Lessepsian migrant through the Suez Canal.

Blacktail butterflyfish
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Chaetodontidae
Genus: Chaetodon
Subgenus: Chaetodon (Corallochaetodon)
Species:
C. austriacus
Binomial name
Chaetodon austriacus
Rüppell, 1836
Synonyms[2]
  • Chaetodon trifasciatus austriacus Rüppell, 1836
  • Citharoedus austriacus (Rüppell, 1836)
  • Mesochaetodon corallochaetodon austriacus (Rüppell, 1836)
  • Chaetodon klunzingeri Kossman & Räuber, 1877
  • Chaetodon trifasciatus klunzingeri Kossman & Räuber, 1877

Distribution

The species is native to the Red Sea and southern Oman.[2] As of 2011 it has been present on the Mediterranean coast of Israel, evidently as a Lessepsian migrant via the Suez Canal.[3]

Taxonomy

Together with the melon and oval butterflyfishes and probably also the somewhat aberrant Arabian butterflyfish (C. melapterus), the blacktail butterflyfish makes up the subgenus Corallochaetodon. They are probably quite close to the subgenus called Citharoedus (that name is a junior homonym of a mollusc genus), which contains for example the scrawled butterflyfish (C. meyeri). Like that group, they might be separated in Megaprotodon if the genus Chaetodon is split up.[4][5]

Description

The black-tailed butterflyfish is up to 14 cm long and is orange with thin, curved black stripes. Its anal fin and tail are black. The body of juveniles is whiter above with white bands on the tail. The melon butterflyfish (C. trifasciatus) and the oval butterflyfish (C. lunulatus) are similar in coloration but have less black on the caudal and anal fins.[6]

Ecology

Black-tailed butterflyfishes tend to be found in coral-rich areas between 0.5 and 20 m deep, on seaward reefs or in lagoons or bays. Adults are generally found in pairs patrolling a territory or range while juveniles are found among coral branches. This species grazes on coral polyps and sea anemone tentacles.[6]

References
  1. Rocha, L.A.; Craig, M.T. & Pratchett, M. (2010). "Chaetodon austriacus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T165634A6074982. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T165634A6074982.en.
  2. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2019). "Chaetodon austriacus" in FishBase. December 2019 version.
  3. Menachem Goran; Roy Gvili & Bella Galil (2011). "The reef-associating butterfly fish Chaetodon austriacus Rüppell, 1836 in the Mediterranean: The implication of behavioral plasticity for bioinvasion hazard assessment". Aquatic Invasions. 6 (supplement 1): s143–s145. doi:10.3391/ai.2011.6.S1.032.
  4. Fessler, Jennifer L.; Westneat, Mark W. (2007). "Molecular phylogenetics of the butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae): Taxonomy and biogeography of a global coral reef fish family". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 45 (1): 50–68. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.05.018. PMID 17625921.
  5. Hsu, Kui-Ching; Chen, Jeng-Ping; Shao, Kwang-Tsao (2007). "Molecular phylogeny of Chaetodon (Teleostei: Chaetodontidae) in the Indo-West Pacific: evolution in geminate species pairs and species groups" (PDF). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. Suppl. 14: 77–86. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-08-11.
  6. Lieske, E.; Myers, R.F. (2004). Coral reef guide - Red Sea. London: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-00-715986-4.
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