Raccoon butterflyfish

Raccoon butterflyfish
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Perciformes
Family:	Chaetodontidae
Genus:	Chaetodon
Species:	C. lunula
Binomial name
Chaetodon lunula (Lacepède, 1802)

The raccoon butterflyfish, Chaetodon lunula, is a butterflyfish of the family Chaetodontidae found in the Indo-Pacific oceans from East Africa to the Hawaiian, Marquesan, and Ducie islands, north to southern Japan, south to Lord Howe and Rapa islands, and also in the southeast Atlantic from East London, South Africa, at depths down to 30 m. Its length is up to 20 cm.

The raccoon butterflyfish is a nocturnal species that is usually in pairs or small groups in shallow reef flats of lagoon and seaward reefs. Juveniles occur among rocks of inner reef flats and in tide pools. Adults feed mainly on nudibranchs, tubeworm tentacles, and other benthic invertebrates including algae and coral polyps.

Reproduction is oviparous, with pairs forming during breeding.

References

• Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2006). "Chaetodon lunula" in FishBase. June 2006 version.