Butterflyfish

Orange striped butterflyfish ( Chaetodon ornatissimus )

The butterfly fish ( Chaetodontidae ), also called Borstenzähner, are a group of conspicuous tropical marine fish. Their habitat are the reefs in the Atlantic, the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. The family name Chaetodontidae is derived from the Greek words Chaite ( = hair) and odonto - ( = tooth). This refers to the small, brush-like teeth of her mouth. Butterfly fish are similar to the representatives of the family of angelfish ( Pomacanthidae ), but differ by the fin structure.

Features

Butterfly fish are relatively small fish. Most species of this family have a body length of 12-22 inches. The largest member of this family, the giant butterflyfish ( Chaetodon lineolatus ), reaches a length up to 30 cm. The family includes about 127 species in 11 genera.

Butterfly fish are often very colored fish - some species carry color pattern in black, white, blue, red, orange and yellow. Only a few species are colored unremarkable. Many species have conspicuous eyespots at the rear of the dorsal fin. The function of the eye spot is the irritation visually oriented predators; predatory fish gasp for these false eyes and deceive themselves with regard to the targeted direction of escape of the prey. The real eye takes in most butterfly fish, the pattern of the fish and is thus invisible to the predator because he no eye appears. So he snaps at the eyespot on the dorsal fin. Butterfly fish have flashy hochrückige, laterally flattened body; the anal fins are round in most species. None of the species has a forked anal fin.

After the larval stage, the animals have for some time a strong head armor ( Tholichthys stage).

Way of life

Most species of the family of butterfly fish live in up to 18 meters water depth. A few species are also found up to 180 meters water depth. Some species, such as the copper butterflyfish are territorial fish that live in pairs and defend their territory. The species that feed on plankton, often form small flocks. Over night butterflyfish hide in reef and thereby show a strikingly different coloration than during the day.

Outer systematics

Long were the angelfish ( Pomacanthidae ), which were previously counted as a subfamily of the butterfly fish, as their closest relatives. According to a recent phylogenetic study, the sister group of butterfly fish is a common taxon of imperial and Argus fish ( Scatophagidae ). A close relationship exists with the control perch ( Kyphosidae ) and the sickle fish ( Drepaneidae ).

Inside systematics

The species of butterfly fish can be summarized in two Hauptkladen that in the English study as a "butterfly fishes" designated butterfly fish in the narrow sense and the " bannerfishes " what the pennant and the Pinzettfische belong.

The relationships shown in the following cladogram:

Amphichaetodon

Coradion

Chelmonops

Chelmon

Forcipiger

Hemitaurichthys

Johnrandallia

Heniochus

Prognathodes

Chaetodon

• Pennant and Pinzettfische Amphichaetodon Burgess, 1978. Amphichaetodon howensis ( Waite, 1903).
• Amphichaetodon melbae Burgess & Caldwell, 1978.

• Western barred (Chelmon marginalis ) Richardson, 1842
• Müller (Chelmon mülleri ) Klunzinger, 1879
• Copper Strip (Chelmon rostratus ) (Linnaeus, 1758)

• South Australian butterflyfish ( Chelmonops curiosus ) Kuiter, 1986
• Australian Eastern butterflyfish ( Chelmonops truncatus ) ( Kner, 1859)

• High fin Coradion ( Coradion altivellis ) McCulloch, 1916
• Coradion chrysozonus ( Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1831)
• Coradion melanopus ( Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1831)

• Yellow Maskenpinzettfisch ( Forcipiger flavissmus ) Jordan & McGregor in Jordan & Evermann
• Long mouth butterflyfish ( Forcipiger longirostris ) ( Broussonet, 1782 )

• Vielstachliger butterflyfish ( Hemitaurichthys multispinosus ) Randall, 1975
• Yellow pyramid butterflyfish ( Hemitaurichthys polylepsis ) ( Bleeker, 1857)
• Pink butterflyfish ( Hemitaurichthys thompsoni ) Fowler, 1923
• Black pyramid butterflyfish ( Hemitaurichthys zoster) ( Bennett, 1831)

• Common pennants (Heniochus acuminatus ) Linnaeus, 1758
• Pacific Pennant (Heniochus chrysostomas ) Cuvier, 1831
• Swarm Pennant (Heniochus diphreutes ) Jordan, 1903
• Rotmeer Pennant (Heniochus intermedius ) Steindachner, 1893
• Masks Pennant (Heniochus monoceras ) Cuvier, 1831
• Phantom Pennant (Heniochus pleurotaenia ) Ahl, 1923
• Malays Pennant (Heniochus singularis ) Smith & Radcliffe, 1911
• Black Pennant (Heniochus varius) Cuvier, 1829

• Barbier butterflyfish ( Johnrandallia nigrirostris ) Nalbant, 1974

• Chaetodon Linnaeus, 1758. Chaetodon adiergastos Seale, 1910.
• Chaetodon andamanensis Kuiter & Debelius, 1999
• Chaetodon argentatus Smith & Radcliffe, 1911.
• Chaetodon assarius Waite, 1905.
• Chaetodon aureofasciatus Macleay, 1878.
• Threadfin butterflyfish ( Chaetodon auriga ) Forsskål, 1775
• Chaetodon auripes Jordan & Snyder, 1901.
• Rotmeer ripple strip butterflyfish ( Chaetodon austriacus ) Rüppell, 1836
• Chaetodon baronessa Cuvier, in 1829.
• Chaetodon Quoy & Gaimard bellicosus, 1825.
• Chaetodon bennetti Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1831
• Chaetodon blackburnii Desjardins, 1836.
• Chaetodon burgessi Allen & Starck, 1973.
• Four Eye Butterflyfish ( Chaetodon capistratus ) Linnaeus, 1758
• Chaetodon citrinellus Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1831st
• Chaetodon collare Bloch, 1787.
• Chaetodon daedalma Jordan & Fowler, 1902
• Chaetodon declivis Randall, 1975.
• Chaetodon decussatus Cuvier, in 1829.
• Chaetodon dialeucos Salm & Mee, 1989.
• Chaetodon dolosus Ahl, 1923.
• Chaetodon ephippium Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1831st
• Chaetodon falcula Bloch, 1795.
• Chaetodon fasciatus Forsskål, 1775.
• Chaetodon festivus Desjardins, 1834.
• Black butterflyfish ( Chaetodon flavirostris ) Günther, 1874.
• Chaetodon flavocoronatus Myers, 1980.
• Chaetodon fremblii Bennett, 1828th
• Chaetodon gardineri Norman, 1939.
• Chaetodon guentheri Ahl, 1923.
• Chaetodon guttatissimus Bennett, 1833.
• Chaetodon hoefleri Steindachner, 1881.
• Chaetodon humeralis Günther, 1860.
• Chaetodon interruptus Ahl, 1923
• Klein's butterflyfish ( Chaetodon kleinii ) Bloch, 1790
• Chaetodon larvatus Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1831st
• Chaetodon leucopleura Playfair in Playfair & Günther, 1867.
• Giant butterflyfish ( Chaetodon lineolatus ) Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1831st
• Chaetodon litus Randall & Caldwell, 1973
• Chaetodon Quoy & Gaimard luctuosus, 1825.
• Raccoon Butterflyfish ( Chaetodon lunula ) ( Lacepede, 1802).
• Chaetodon Quoy & Gaimard lunulatus, 1825
• Chaetodon madagaskariensis Ahl, 1923.
• Chaetodon marleyi Regan, 1921.
• Chaetodon melannotus Bloch & Schneider, 1801.
• Chaetodon melapterus Guichenot, 1863
• Chaetodon mertensii Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1831st
• Chaetodon mesoleucos Forsskål, 1775.
• Chaetodon meyeri Bloch & Schneider, 1801
• Lemon butterflyfish ( Chaetodon miliaris ) Quoy & Gaimard, 1825
• Chaetodon mitratus Günther, 1860.
• Chaetodon multicinctus Garrett, 1863.
• Chaetodon nigropunctatus Sauvage, 1880.
• Chaetodon nippon Steindachner, 1883
• Northern butterflyfish ( Chaetodon ocellatus ) Bloch, 1787.
• Chaetodon ocellicaudus Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1831st
• Chaetodon octofasciatus Bloch, 1787.
• Chaetodon oligacanthus Bleeker, 1850.
• Orange striped butterflyfish ( Chaetodon ornatissimus ) Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1831
• Chaetodon ornatus Gray, 1831st
• Chaetodon oxycephalus Bleeker, 1853.
• Chaetodon paucifasciatus Ahl, 1923.
• Chaetodon pelewensis Kner, 1868.
• Chaetodon pictus Forsskål, 1775.
• Chaetodon plebeius Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1831
• Chaetodon punctatofasciatus Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1831st
• Four spot butterflyfish ( Chaetodon quadrimaculatus ) Gray, 1831st
• Latticed Butterflyfish ( Chaetodon rafflesi ) Anonymous [ Bennett ], 1830.
• Chaetodon rainfordi McCulloch, 1923.
• Chaetodon reticulatus Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1831st
• Chaetodon robustus Günther, 1860.
• Chaetodon sanctaehelenae Günther, 1868.
• Caribbean Reef Butterflyfish ( Chaetodon sedentarius ) Poey, 1860
• Chaetodon selene Bleeker, 1853.
• Chaetodon semeion Bleeker, 1855.
• Mask Butterflyfish ( Chaetodon sermilavatus ) Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1831
• Chaetodon smithi Randall, 1975
• Einfleckfalterfisch ( Chaetodon speculum ) Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1831
• Black -banded butterflyfish ( Chaetodon striatus) Linnaeus, 1758.
• Chaetodon tinkeri Schultz, 1951.
• Chaetodon triangulum Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1831st
• Chaetodon trichrous Günther, 1874
• Chaetodon tricinctus Waite, 1901.
• Chaetodon Quoy & Gaimard trifascialis, 1825.
• Ripple Butterflyfish (Chaetodon trifasciatus ) Park, 1797
• Chaetodon ulietensis Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1831st
• Teardrop Butterflyfish ( Chaetodon unimaculatus ) Bloch, 1787
• Vagabundus Chaetodon Linnaeus, 1758.
• Chaetodon wiebeli Kaup, 1863.
• Chaetodon xanthocephalus Bennett, 1833.
• Chaetodon xanthurus Bleeker, 1857.
• Chaetodon zanzibarensis Playfair in Playfair & Günther, 1867.

• Sailing butterflyfish ( Parachaetodon ocellatus ) ( Cuvier in Cuvier & Valenciennes, 1831)

• Prognathodes aculeatus ( Poey, 1860)
• Prognathodes aya (Jordan, 1886)
• Prognathodes brasiliensis Burgess, 2001
• Prognathodes carlhubbsi Nalbant, 1995
• Prognathodes dichrous ( Günther, 1869)
• Prognathodes falcifer ( Hubbs & Rechnitz, 1958)
• Prognathodes guezei ( Maugé & Bauchot, 1976)
• Prognathodes guyanensis (Durand, 1960)
• Prognathodes guyotensis ( Yamamoto & Tameka in Okamura, Amaoka & Mitani, 1982)
• Prognathodes marc harboring (Poll, 1950)
• Prognathodes obliquus (Lubbock & Edwards, 1980)

• Australia - Roa butterflyfish ( Roa australis) Kuiter, 2004
• Hawaii Roa butterflyfish ( Roa excelsa ) (Jordan, 1921)
• Red Sea Roa butterflyfish ( Roa jayakari ) (Norman, 1939)
• Japan - Roa butterflyfish ( Roa modesta ) ( Temminck & Schlegel, 1844)

Fossil record

A fossil butterflyfish Pygaeus frontalis is from the Middle Eocene of northern Italy Monte Bolca Formation, which originated from deposits of the Tethys known. The extant genus Chaetodon has Chaetodon ficheuri a representative from the upper Miocene. Its fossil remains have been found at Oran in Algeria.

Aquarium maintenance

Due to the attractive coloration of these fish they are often shown in public aquaria. However, most species are demanding Pfleglinge due to their dietary behavior. Therefore the species are mainly kept in aquariums that are food generalists. For now customary in private seawater lovers coral reef aquariums, they are completely unsuitable except for the Copper Strip Pinzettfischs ( Chelmon rostratus ), as they would eat up the hard- placed to grow hard and soft corals in a short time.