The teardrop butterflyfish (''Chaetodon unimaculatus'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the ( family Chaetodontidae. It is found in the

Indo-Pacific The Indo-Pacific is a vast biogeographic region of Earth. In a narrow sense, sometimes known as the Indo-West Pacific or Indo-Pacific Asia, it comprises the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean, the western and central Pacific Ocean, and the ...

region.

Description

The teardrop butterflyfish has a whitish body with yellow dorsal, anal and

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two en ...

s, this yellow colour extends on to the back. The upper flank is marked with a large teardrop shaped black blotch and there is a wide, black, vertical bar though the eye. There are delicate yellowish-orange chevrons on the flanks in front of the black teardrop and there is another black vertical band with runs from the rear of the dorsal fin, across the caudal peduncle to the rear of the anal fin. The dorsal fin contains 12-13 spines and 19-23 soft rays while the anal fin contains 3 spines and 18-20 soft rays. This species attains a maximum total length of , although around is more usual.

Distribution

The teardrop butterflyfish is found in the eastern Indian and western Pacific Oceans from Christmas Island and Cocos (Keeling) Island east as far as Hawaii, the Marquesas and Ducie Island, north as far as Southern Japan, and south to Lord Howe in the Tasman Sea and the central coast of New South Wales.

Habitat and biology

Teradrop butterflyfish are normally encountered in small groups in reef flats, clear lagoon and seaward reefs where they feed on soft and hard corals, as well as polychaetes, small crustaceans and filamentous algae. This is an

oviparous Oviparous animals are animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive method of most fish, amphibians, most reptiles, and all pterosaurs, dinosaurs (including birds), and ...

species and they are monogamous with the sexes forming pairs to breed. These fishes may be found at depths of and they are most numerous where the leathery corals of the genera '' Sarcophyton'' and '' Sinularia'' grow.

Taxonomy

The teardrop butterflyfish was first formally described in 1787 by the german

medical doctor A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and zoologist Marcus Elieser Bloch ((1723-1799) with the

type locality Type locality may refer to: * Type locality (biology) * Type locality (geology) See also * Local (disambiguation) * Locality (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

give as the East Indies, i.e. Indonesia. In the western Indian Ocean it is replaced by the

yellow teardrop butterflyfish The yellow teardrop butterflyfish (''Chaetodon interruptus''), also known as the Indian teardrop butterflyfish is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish of the family Chaetodontidae. It is found in the Indian Ocean from East Africa ...

(''Chaetodon interruptus''), now a separate species but previously considered a

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of ''Chaetodon unimaculatus''. In its

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 t ...

''Lepidochaetodon'' it is sometimes considered a separate genus. It is only distantly related to other ''

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 ...

'' species such as the

sunburst butterflyfish The sunburst butterflyfish (''Chaetodon kleinii''), also known as the black-lipped butterflyfish, "blacklip butterflyfish" or Klein's butterflyfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. ...

(''Chaetodon kleinii'') and the Tahiti butterflyfish (''

Chaetodon trichrous ''Chaetodon trichrous'' (Tahiti butterflyfish) is a species of fish in the family Chaetodontidae. Taxonomy This species is included in the subgenus ''Lepidochaetodon''. In 1984, André and Roland Bauchot Maugé proposed to include this species ...

'').

Utilisation

The teardrop butterflyfish is relatively common in the

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

trade. It is caught by some artisanal fisheries.

References

External links

* * Teardrop Butterflyfish @ Fishes of Australia
/small> {{Taxonbar, from=Q2135616 teardrop butterflyfish Fish of Oceania Marine fish of Northern Australia Fish of Southeast Asia Fish of Hawaii Fish of Micronesia Fish of Palau Least concern biota of Asia Least concern biota of Oceania teardrop butterflyfish