Chaetodon nigropunctatus

Chaetodon nigropunctatus, the black-spotted butterflyfish, is a species off marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish, belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. It is found in the north western Indian Ocean.

Chaetodon nigropunctatus
juvenile
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Chaetodontidae
Genus: Chaetodon
Subgenus: Chaetodon (Rabdophorus)
Species:
C. nigropunctatus
Binomial name
Chaetodon nigropunctatus
Sauvage, 1880
Synonyms[2]
Iran

Description

Chaetodon nigropunctatus has a whitish mouth set in a grey face, the colour of the body is greyish white and it is marked with many longitudinal rows of dark grey spots. The tail is black with a white margin.[3] The dorsal fin has 13 spines and 21-23 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 18-20 soft rays. This species attains a maximum total length of 14 centimetres (5.5 in).[2]

Distribution

Chaetodon nigropunctatus is found in the northwestern Indian Ocean. It occurs in the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea coast of the Arabian Peninsula.[1]

Habitat and biology

Chaetodon nigropunctatus occurs at depths between 1 and 40 metres (3.3 and 131.2 ft),[1] inhabiting coral reefs where they occur in pairs. They are thought to feed mainly on coral polyps.[2] it occurs over reefs, either of coral or rock, and sometime in Sandy lagoon areas.[1]

Systematics

Chaetodon nigropunctatus was first formally described in 1880 by the French paleontologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist Henri Émile Sauvage (1842-1917) with the type locality was given as Oman.[4] It belongs to the large subgenus Rabdophorus which might warrant recognition as a distinct genus.[5]

Utilsation

Chaetodon nigropunctatus is rare in the aquarium trade.[1] However, it is a difficult species to keep in captivity due to its specialised diet of live coral polyps.[3]

References
  1. Allen, G.; Myers, R. (2010). "Chaetodon nigropunctatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T165696A6094656. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T165696A6094656.en. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  2. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2019). "Chaetodon nigropunctatus" in FishBase. December 2019 version.
  3. "Chaetodon nigropunctatus". Saltcorner. Bob Goemans. 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  4. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species in the genus Chaetodon". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  5. 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.
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