Yellow-dotted butterflyfish

Yellow-dotted butterflyfish
Yellow-dotted Butterflyfish
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Chaetodontidae
Genus: Chaetodon (but see text)
Subgenus: Rabdophorus
Species: C. (R.) selene
Binomial name
Chaetodon (Rabdophorus) selene
Bleeker, 1853

The Yellow-dotted Butterflyfish, Chaetodon selene, is a poorly known fish species which has been recorded in the Indo-Pacific region from Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea, Taiwan and Japan.[1]

It grows to a maximum of 16 cm (6.3 inches) long. The body is mainly white, with a series of yellow dots running at diagonal lines over the sides (see photo). A black band extends from the caudal peduncle along the bases of the dorsal and anal fins. There is a narrow black eyestripe edged with yellow.[1]

C. selene belongs to the large subgenus Rabdophorus, which might warrant recognition as a distinct genus. In this group, it appears a somewhat distant relative of the Black-backed Butterflyfish (C. melannotus) and the Spot-tailed Butterflyfish (C. ocellicaudus). They are all of oval shape, silvery with yellow fins and snout, ascending diagonal stripes (yellow in C. selene, dark in the others), and black markings around the eyes, on the caudal peduncle, and sometimes on the back. Next closest seem the Saddle Butterflyfish (C. ephippium) and the Dotted Butterflyfish (C. semeion), but these are already so distant that their ancestors are thought to have diverged from those soon after the Rabdophorus lineage started to diversify.[2]

The Yellow-dotted Butterflyfish is found on coastal reefs, primarily on rubble slopes from 8–50 metres (26–160 ft) in depth. It feeds on benthic invertebrates.[1]

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c "Chaetodon selene, Yellow-dotted butterflyfish : fisheries", FishBase (2010), link: FB634.
  2. ^ Fessler & Westneat (2007), Hsu et al. (2007)

References

  • 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)
  • FishBase (2010): Chaetodon selene. Version of 2010-10-06. Retrieved 2011-07-02.
  • 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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