Bluelashed butterflyfish

Bluelashed butterflyfish
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Chaetodontidae
Genus: Chaetodon (but see text)
Subgenus: Tetrachaetodon
Species: C. bennetti
Binomial name
Chaetodon bennetti
G. Cuvier, 1831

The bluelashed butterflyfish, Chaetodon bennetti, is a species of butterflyfish (family Chaetodontidae). It is found in the Indo-Pacific from East Africa to the Pitcairn Islands, north to Japan and south to Lord Howe Island and Rapa Iti.[1]

It grows to a maximum of 20 cm (almost 8 in) long. The body is yellow with a black patch surrounded by a blue circle below the dorsal fin and two curved blue lines above the belly. Its vertical black eyestripe is flanked by two blue lines.[1]

Like the other butterflyfishes with angular yellow bodíes with black eyestripes and (except in the present species) a single differently-colored patch, it belongs in the subgenus Tetrachaetodon. Among this group it seems to be the most basal living species. If Chaetodon is split up, this subgenus would be placed in Megaprotodon.[2][3]

The bluelashed butterflyfish is found in seaward and lagoon reefs in areas with rich coral growth. Juveniles may be found in shallow Acropora thickets. Adults occur in pairs. This species feeds largely on coral polyps.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 FishBase (2008): Chaetodon bennetti. Version of 2008-JUL-24. Retrieved 2008-SEP-01.
  2. ↑ 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)
  3. ↑ 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
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