Latticed butterflyfish

The Latticed Butterflyfish (Chaetodon rafflesii), also known as Raffles’ coralfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. It is found in the Indo-Pacific region.

Latticed butterflyfish
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Chaetodontidae
Genus: Chaetodon
Subgenus: Chaetodon (Rabdophorus)
Species:
C. rafflesii
Binomial name
Chaetodon rafflesii
Anonymous [Bennett], 1830
Synonyms[2]
  • Chaetodon sebae Cuvier, 1831
  • Chaetodon princeps Cuvier, 1831
  • Chaetodon dahli Ahl, 1923

Description

The latticed butterflyfish is mainly yellow butterflyfish which has dark edges to its scales which create a dark lattice pattern on the flanks. Theresa a vertical black bar running through the eye and it has a blue parch on the forehead. The soft rayed part of the dorsal fin has a dark submarginal band while there is a wide black bar through the centre of the caudal fin. Sometimes there is a black spot underneath the spiny section of the dorsal fin and juveniles have a dark spot on the soft rayed part of the dorsal fin.[3] The dorsal fin contains 12-13 spines and 21-23 soft rays while the anal fins has 3 spines and 18-20 soft rays. This species can reach a maximum total length of 18 centimetres (7.1 in), although 15 centimetres (5.9 in) is a more common total length.[2]

Distribution

The latticed butterflyfish is found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans where occurs from Sri Lanka to the Tuamotu Islands, north to southern Japan, south to the Great Barrier Reef, and from Palau (Belau) to the eastern Caroline Islands in Micronesia.[1]

Habitat and biology

The latticed butterflyfish is an uncommon species found in areas of rich coral growth of lagoons and protected reef flats and seaward reefs from 1–20 metres (3.3–65.6 ft) depth. It feeds on sea anemones, polychaetes, and octocorallian and scleractinian coral polyps.[2] It is normally observed in pairs.[1]

Systematics

The latticed butterfly fish was first formally described in an anonymous description which was appended to the biography of the British statesman and colonialist Sir Stamford Raffles, who was first president of the Zoological Society of London, written by his widow, Sophia Hull. Raffles employed botanists and zoologists to collect specimens and it is thought that the description was written by Edward Turner Bennett (1797-1836) and thge type locality was Sumatra. The specific name honours Raffles.[4][5]

The peculiarly-patterned C. rafflesii belongs to the large subgenus Rabdophorus which might warrant recognition as a distinct genus. In this group, it seems to represent a rather unusual lineage, with perhaps just the White-faced butterflyfish (C. mesoleucos) being less distantly related.[2][6][7]

References
  1. Myers, R.; Pratchett, M. (2010). "Chaetodon rafflesii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T165680A6089397. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T165680A6089397.en. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  2. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2019). "Chaetodon rafflesii" in FishBase. December 2019 version.
  3. Dianne J. Bray. "Chaetodon rafflesii". Fishes of Australia. Museums Victoria. Retrieved 28 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 28 December 2020.
  5. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (21 July 2020). "Order ACANTHURIFORMES (part 1): Families LOBOTIDAE, POMACANTHIDAE, DREPANEIDAE and CHAETODONTIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  6. 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.
  7. 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 Supplement. 14: 77–86. Archived 2007-08-11 at the Wayback Machine
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