Sail butterflyfish
| Sail butterflyfish | ||||||||||||
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Sail butterflyfish ( Parachaetodon ocellatus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Parachaetodon | ||||||||||||
| Bleeker , 1874 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the species | ||||||||||||
| Parachaetodon ocellatus | ||||||||||||
| ( Cuvier , 1831) |
The butterflyfish ( Parachaetodon ocellatus ), also known as the five-banded butterflyfish , is a species of the butterflyfish family that occurs in the western Pacific from the Ogasawara Islands to Australia.
features
The fish has a silvery white, high-backed and laterally flattened body. It is characterized by the five vertical yellowish, dark-edged stripes. The foremost of these stripes runs over the eyes, the last one lies on the tail stalk. As is typical for many butterfly fish, the sail butterfly fish also has a conspicuous, brightly fringed, black eye spot in the rear area of the dorsal fin . This eye spot is an adaptation to optically oriented predators. When chasing their prey fish, predatory fish often focus on their eyes and are thus deceived as to their direction of flight. The butterfly fish of the closely related genus Chaetodon differs from the butterfly fish in its unusually shaped dorsal fin, which has only six to seven fin spines, while those of the Chaetodon species have nine or more fin spines.
The sail butterflyfish reaches a length of up to 18 cm.
- Fins formula : dorsal VI – VII / 28–30, anal III / 18–20.
Way of life
The sail butterflyfish live at depths of 5 to 40 meters, more over silt and mud floors than in coral reefs. It forms small to large schools that can contain hundreds of fish. During the breeding season, the species lives in pairs. Young fish often live in large lagoons in shallow water between seaweeds.
Systematics
The fish species was first described in 1831 by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier and was then given the name Platax ocellatus . Bleeker placed the species in the genus Chaetodon in 1850 . In 1874 he introduced the genus Parachaetodon for the species Chaetodon oligacanthus , in which the butterfly fish was also placed. Chaetodon oligacanthus is a synonym for Parachaetodon ocellatus at Fishbase , in the Catalog of Fishes it is an independent species, but belongs to Chaetodon , so the Parachaetodon is currently monotypical .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Helmut Debelius, Rudie H. Kuiter: Butterfly fish, Chaetodon . Ulmer Verlag, 2003, ISBN 3-8001-4243-0
- ↑ a b Roger C. Steene: Butterfly and Angelfish, Volume 1 . Mergus Verlag, 1977, ISBN 3-88244-001-5
- ↑ Parachaetodon in the Catalog of Fishes (English)
- ↑ Parachaetodon ocellatus on Fishbase.org (English)
Web links
- Sail butterflyfish on Fishbase.org (English)
- Parachaetodon ocellatus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2010. Posted by: Rocha, LA, Allen, G. & Myers, R., 2009. Accessed October 19, 2017th