Hemitaurichthys
| Hemitaurichthys | ||||||||||||
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Yellow pyramid butterflyfish ( Hemitaurichthys polylepis ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Hemitaurichthys | ||||||||||||
| Bleeker , 1876 |
Hemitaurichthys is a four species comprehensive genus of butterfly fish (Chaetodon). Three of the species have a wide range, H. polylepis occurs from Christmas Island in the northeast Indian Ocean to wide areas of the tropical Pacific. In the rest of the Indian Ocean it is replaced by H. zoster . H. thompsoni lives mainly in the northern tropical Pacific, but has also been found in the Tuamotu archipelago . H. multispinosus is only endemic to Pitcairn .
features
Hemitaurichthys species are 18 to 20 centimeters long, are high-backed and less colorful than other species of butterflyfish and are mainly gray, blackish and white in color. In H. zoster the middle hard rays of the dorsal fin and the anal fin are yellow, in H. polylepis the entire dorsal and anal fin, as well as adjacent areas of the body. An eye-spot like many other butterfly fish is missing. Hemitaurichthys species are long-lived. Specimens of H. polylepis were kept in the aquarium of the Musée de l'École de Nancy for 15 years, H. zoster reached the age of 17 there.
Fin formula : dorsal XII – XVI / 18–27, anal III – V / 15–21.
Hemitaurichthys is the sister group of a common clade of the barber butterflyfish ( Johnrandallia nigrirostris ) and the banner fish ( Heniochus ).
Way of life
Hemitaurichthys are schooling fish and live on rocky and steep, current- rich outer reefs . They feed on zooplankton .
species
- Spiny butterflyfish ( Hemitaurichthys multispinosus ) Randall, 1975
- Yellow pyramid butterflyfish ( Hemitaurichthys polylepis ) (Bleeker, 1857)
- Thompson's pyramid butterflyfish ( Hemitaurichthys thompsoni ) Fowler, 1923
- Black pyramid butterflyfish ( Hemitaurichthys zoster ) (Bennett, 1831)
literature
- Rudie H. Kuiter , Helmut Debelius : Butterfly fish, Chaetodon . Ulmer Verlag, 2003, ISBN 3-8001-4243-0
- Roger C. Steene: Butterfly and Angelfish, Volume 1 . Mergus Verlag, 1977, ISBN 3-88244-001-5
Individual evidence
- ↑ Fessler, Jennifer L. & Westneat, Mark W. (2007): Molecular phylogenetics of the butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae): Taxonomy and biogeography of a global coral reef fish family. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 45 (1): 50-68. doi : 10.1016 / j.ympev.2007.05.018
Web links
- Hemitaurichthys on Fishbase.org (English)