Latticed butterflyfish
| Latticed Butterflyfish | |
|---|---|
| |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | |
| Phylum: | |
| Class: | |
| Order: | |
| Family: | |
| Genus: | Chaetodon (but see text)
|
| Subgenus: | Rabdophorus
|
| Species: | C. (R.) rafflesii
|
| Binomial name | |
| Chaetodon (Rabdophorus) rafflesii Bennett, 1830
| |
The Latticed Butterflyfish, Chaetodon rafflesii, is a species of butterflyfish (family Chaetodontidae). It is found in the Indo-Pacific region 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]
It grows to a maximum of 18 cm (7.1 in) long. The body color is yellow with a cross-hatched pattern of darker lines on the sides; it has a vertical black eyestripe and a vertical black line in the caudal fin. 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 unique lineage, with perhaps just the White-faced Butterflyfish (C. mesoleucos) being less distantly related.[2]
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 m depth. It feeds on sea anemones, polychaetes, and octocorallian and scleractinian coral polyps.[1]
Footnotes
References
- 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 (HTML abstract)
- FishBase (2008): Chaetodon rafflesii. Version of 2008-JUL-24. Retrieved 2008-SEP-01.
- 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. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 14: 77-86. PDF fulltext