Northern butterflyfish
| Northern butterflyfish | ||||||||||||
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Northern butterflyfish ( Chaetodon ocellatus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Chaetodon ocellatus | ||||||||||||
| Bloch , 1787 |
The northern butterflyfish ( Chaetodon ocellatus ) or finned butterflyfish is a species of the butterflyfish family .
distribution
It lives in the western Atlantic , from the Brazilian Abrolhos Islands in the south to Florida at depths of about 30 meters. The species is particularly common in the shallow reefs of Florida. Young fish are often driven north with the Gulf Stream . They have been caught near New York , Massachusetts, and even Nova Scotia . Every year in November, thousands of young fish die in the colder water on the Atlantic coast of North America.
features
The fish has a high-backed, laterally flattened body of a silvery white basic color. The pectoral fins are transparent, the other fins are yellow. A dark stripe runs vertically over the eyes. Young fish also have such a stripe on their abdomen just before the base of the tail. The northern butterflyfish grow to be 16 to 20 centimeters long.
Way of life
Adult northern butterflyfish live in pairs, juvenile fish individually or in small groups. Northern butterflyfish are omnivores and feed primarily on plankton .
literature
- Rudie H. Kuiter , Helmut Debelius : Butterfly fish, Chaetodon . Ulmer Verlag, 2003, ISBN 3-8001-4243-0
- Gerald R. Allen : Butterfly and Angelfish, Volume 2 . Mergus Verlag, 1979, ISBN 3-88244-002-3
Web links
Chaetodon ocellatus on Fishbase.org (English)
- Chaetodon ocellatus inthe IUCN 2013 Red List of Threatened Species . Listed by: Rocha, LA, 2009. Retrieved February 9, 2014.