The butterfly perch (''Caesioperca lepidoptera'') is a marine species of

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

in the family

Anthiadidae Anthias are members of the family Anthiadidae in the order Perciformes. The group has also been called Anthiidae or Anthiinae, but these names are preoccupied by a subfamily of ground beetles in the family Carabidae erected by Bonelli in 1813 ...

. It is found in the eastern

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

, and the southwestern

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, including the waters around

southern Australia Southern Australia is generally considered to consist of the states and territories of Australia of New South Wales, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory (Canberra), Tasmania and South Australia. The part of Western Australia south of ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It is sometimes known as the red perch.

Description

The butterfly perch is a laterally compressed, deep-bodied fish growing to a maximum length of . It is a pinkish colour and has a large black spot towards the posterior end. Adults have a blue band just behind the eye, blue margins to the fins and small blue spots. The pectoral fins are about as long as the head. This fish is often confused with the closely related

barber perch The barber perch (''Caesioperca rasor''), also called the barber sea perch, red perch or Tasmanian barber, is endemic to Australia, found from southern Victoria to southwestern Western Australia, including Tasmania.Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

and

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. It is a schooling fish and is found on and around coastal reefs where it feeds on plankton. The butterfly perch shelters in crevices and caves at night.

Behaviour

The butterfly perch congregates in dense shoals in deep water near reefs. It is a

demersal fish Demersal fish, also known as groundfish, live and feed on or near the bottom of seas or lakes (the demersal zone).Walrond Carl . "Coastal fish - Fish of the open sea floor"Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Updated 2 March 2009 They oc ...

, feeding on

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...

ic organisms and such bottom-dwelling invertebrates as

sea squirts Ascidiacea, commonly known as the ascidians or sea squirts, is a paraphyletic class in the subphylum Tunicata of sac-like marine invertebrate filter feeders. Ascidians are characterized by a tough outer test or "tunic" made of the polysaccharid ...

pyrosome Pyrosomes are free-floating colonial tunicates in family Pyrosomatidae. Pyrosomes consist of colonies of small Zooids. There are three genera, '' Pyrosoma'', '' Pyrosomella'' and '' Pyrostremma'', and eight species. They usually live in the uppe ...

s, coral polyps,

polychaete worms Polychaeta () is a paraphyletic class of generally marine annelid worms, commonly called bristle worms or polychaetes (). Each body segment has a pair of fleshy protrusions called parapodia that bear many bristles, called chaetae, which are mad ...

copepod Copepods (; meaning 'oar-feet') are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (living in the water column), some are benthos, benthic (living on the sedimen ...

s and

shrimp A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...

References

* Tony Ayling & Geoffrey Cox, ''Collins Guide to the Sea Fishes of New Zealand'', (William Collins Publishers Ltd, Auckland, New Zealand 1982) {{Taxonbar, from=Q2687823 Caesioperca Marine fish of New Zealand Taxa named by Johann Reinhold Forster Fish described in 1801