The lined butterflyfish (''Chaetodon lineolatus'') is a species of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

. a

butterflyfish The butterflyfish are a group of conspicuous tropical marine fish of the family Chaetodontidae; the bannerfish and coralfish are also included in this group. The approximately 129 species in 12 genera are found mostly on the reefs of the Atlan ...

belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Chaetodontidae, one of the largest

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

Chaetodon ''Chaetodon'' is a tropical fish genus in the family Chaetodontidae. Like their relatives, they are known as "butterflyfish". This genus is by far the largest among the Chaetodontidae, with about 90 living species included here, though most migh ...

''. It has a wide range from the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

and as far east as southern

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Taxonomy

It belongs to the large

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between ...

''Rabdophorus'' which might warrant recognition as a distinct

. In this group, it seems to be member of a lineage also containing species such as the spot-naped butterflyfish (''C. oxycephalus''), or the peculiar black-wedged butterflyfish (''C. falcula'') and Pacific double-saddle butterflyfish or "false falcula" (''C. ulietensis''). These four differ wildly in shape, but all have bluish vertical lines on a white body with yellow behind, and black on back and

caudal peduncle Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as see ...

in addition to the typical eyestripe of ''Chaetodon''. The blue-cheeked butterflyfish (''C. semilarvatus'') seems to be a far more basal lineage of ''Rabdophorus'' relative to them, but it also has the tell-tale blue vertical lines.

Description

Lined butterflyfish may grow up to long, which among ''

'' is matched only by the saddle butterflyfish (''C. ephippium''), making them about as big as dinner plates. They are white in color, with thin black vertical bars which join a thick black band at the base of the

tail The tail is the section at the rear end of certain kinds of animals’ bodies; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammal ...

and

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

. The tail, dorsal, and

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as see ...

s are yellow.

Distribution and habitat

Lined butterflyfish swims along a dome coral

The species occurs along the east coast of Africa including the Red Sea and Mozambique Channel, throughout Northern Australia including the Coral Sea, Gulf of Carpentaria, and Timor Sea, and throughout West Indo-Pacific including the Java Sea, South China Sea, Philippine Sea, and Celebes Sea. This uncommon fish is found in pairs or swimming alone, or occasionally in

spawn Spawn or spawning may refer to: * Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals Arts, entertainment, and media * Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise ** '' Spawn: A ...

ing aggregations. It occurs between 2 and 50 m depth, in

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and se ...

-rich areas of

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes—deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock ...

s and

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into '' coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons ...

Ecology

Coral polyp Corals are marine invertebrates within the class (biology), class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important C ...

s, small

anemone ''Anemone'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae. Plants of the genus are commonly called windflowers. They are native to the temperate and subtropical regions of all continents except Australia, New Zealand an ...

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular micr ...

and

invertebrate Invertebrates are a paraphyletic group of animals that neither possess nor develop a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''backbone'' or ''spine''), derived from the notochord. This is a grouping including all animals apart from the chorda ...

s make up the lined butterflyfish's diet. It is known to be territorial. This territorialism is connected to their highly specific feeding habits that is located on certain areas. The species can reach an age of up to ten years.

Development

Larvae of fish in the family Chaetodontidae have a random distribution pattern causing them to settle either in the same habitats as adult conspecifics; habitats with high coral cover; or habitats completely different from those used by adult conspecifics. Juveniles that are not in an adult habitat live in their current habitat until reaching maturity. Once they reached post-settlement growth of greater than 100 mm, they migrate to adult habitats if they are not already in that environment.

Reproduction

Very little is known about the spawning of butterflyfish as a whole, however it is believed that they spawn near their feeding habitats during

new moon In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar ecl ...

. The lined butterflyfish mates in lifelong monogamous relationships. However, the male chooses to either stay with its one mate or leave and find another mate. This appears to maximize their fecundity. Lined butterflyfish are social maters, meaning they spend time with their mate outside of just spawning often living together in the same habitat. The species however exhibits little to no parental care to their young.

Predation

The species is preyed on by many larger marine predators including sharks, eels, and snappers; predation may be intensified by loss of habitats and feeding grounds.

Ecosystem roles

Corals and members of the family Chaetodontidae were thought to have a commensal relationship. Coral provides the butterflyfish with food and shelter while coral gets little to nothing in return. However, upon further investigation it seems that ''C. lineolatus'' and other corallivore members of Chaetodontidae pose a bigger threat to coral than previously understood. Corallivores disturb the growth of coral species. This predation may have a long-term effect of on reef biodiversity. The loss of habitat affects reef fishes, including the Chaetodontidae, by making them more prone to predation from larger fishes.

Conservation status

The species is classified as

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. ...

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

due to its wide distribution and presence in protected areas. Its biggest threat is the loss of habitat via coral reef degradation, due to the overdevelopment and over-use of coral reefs and their resources.

References

External links

Fishes of Australia : ''Chaetodon lineolatus''
* {{Taxonbar, from=Q1147338 lined butterflyfish Marine fish of Northern Australia Fish of Hawaii lined butterflyfish Taxa named by Georges Cuvier