Chaetodon larvatus, commonly known as the hooded butterflyfish or orangeface butterflyfish (and with many other common names), is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae.[1][3][2] It is found in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden and has been recorded twice recently in the eastern Mediterranean Sea[4] off Palestine[5] and Syria.[6]

Chaetodon larvatus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Chaetodontidae
Genus: Chaetodon
Subgenus: Chaetodon (Gonochaetodon)
Species:
C. larvatus
Binomial name
Chaetodon larvatus
G. Cuvier, 1831
Synonyms[2]

Chaetodon karraf Cuvier, 1831

Description edit

It grows to a maximum size of 12 cm (4.7 in) total length.[2] The body is powder blue in colour with a pattern of narrow, white chevron-shaped bars. The head and front of the body are coloured intense red-orange. The back of the dorsal fin and the caudal fin are black.

Ecology and behaviour edit

The hooded butterflyfish is found in seaward and lagoon coral reefs. They usually swim around in pairs and are territorial. Normally this species feeds exclusively on the polyps of the tubular Acropora corals.[7] However, given that it has been observed in the Mediterranean, where coral growth is limited, it may be able to adapt to a different diet.[5]

Phylogeny edit

The hooded butterflyfish is a far western sister species of the triangle butterflyfish (C. triangulum), which lives in the Indian Ocean, and C. baronessa, which inhabits the Indo-Pacific. Together these species form the subgenus Gonochaetodon. If Chaetodon is split up as some researchers propose, this group might go into Megaprotodon with other high-backed and square-bodied species, but its exact relationships are still not well known.[8][9]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Pyle, R.; Craig, M.T.; Pratchett, M. (2010). "Chaetodon larvatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T165609A6067212. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T165609A6067212.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2019). "Chaetodon larvatus" in FishBase. December 2019 version.
  3. ^ Eschmeyer, W. N.; R. Fricke; R. van der Laan, eds. (1 December 2016). "Catalog of Fishes". California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  4. ^ Atlas of Exotic Fishes in the Mediterranean Sea (Chaetodon larvatus). 2nd Edition. 2021. 366p. CIESM Publishers, Paris, Monaco.https://ciesm.org/atlas/fishes_2nd_edition/Chaetodon_larvatus.pdf
  5. ^ a b Salameh, Pierre; Sonin, Oren; Edelist, Dor & Golani, Daniel (2011). "First record of the Red Sea orangeface butterflyfish Chaetodon larvatus (Cuvier, 1831) in the Mediterranean". Aquatic Invasions. 6 (Supplement 1): S53–S56. doi:10.3391/AI.2011.6.S1.012.
  6. ^ Ali, M., Saad, A., Soliman, A., Rafrafi-Nouira, S., & Capape, C. (2017). Confirmed Occurrence in the Mediterranean Sea of the Red Sea Orange Face Butterflyfish Chaetodon larvatus (Osteichthyes: Chaetodontidae) and First Record from the Syrian Coast. Cahiers de Biologie Marine, 58(3), 367-369.
  7. ^ Allen, G. R. (1985): Butterfly and Angelfishes of the World. Vol. 2. 3rd ed. Mergus, Melle. p. 193
  8. ^ Fessler, Jennifer L. & Westneat, Mark W. (2007). "Molecular phylogenetics of the butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae): Taxonomy and biogeography of a global coral reef fish family". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 45 (1): 50–68. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.05.018. PMID 17625921.
  9. ^ 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" (PDF). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. Supplement 14: 77–86. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-08-11. Retrieved 2016-12-08.