Marquesas butterflyfish

The Marquesas butterflyfish (Chaetodon declivis) is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. It is found in the central Pacific Ocean.

Marquesas butterflyfish
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Chaetodontidae
Genus: Chaetodon
Subgenus: Rhombochaetodon
Species:
C. declivis
Binomial name
Chaetodon declivis
Randall, 1975

Description

The Marquesas butterflyfish is an attractive species with a silvery-white body marked with black spots and having the upper posterior part of the body with a blackish wedge shaped area. There is also a yellow vertical band running through the eye. The dorsal fin is yellowish-orange while the caudal fin is yellow.[2] They are known to reach a total length of 12 centimetres (4.7 in).[3]

Distribution

The Marquesas butterflyfish is restricted to the Central Pacific Ocean, where it is confined to the Line Islands in the United States Minor Outlying Islands, Phoenix Islands in French Polynesia and Kiribati and Marquesas in French Polynesia.[1]

Habitat and biology

The Marquesas butterflyfish occurs over rocky and sandy bottoms and is an oviparous species which forms pairs for breeding.[3] It is found at depths between 20 to 80 metres (66 to 262 ft).[1] In the wild this omnivorous species feeds on coral polyps, fanworms, crustaceans, tunicates and algae.[2]

Taxonomy and etymology

The Marquesas butterflyfish was first formally described in 1975 by the American ichthyologist John Ernest Randall with the type locality given as Hanauu Bay on Fatu Hiva in the Marquesas Islands.[4] The specific name declivis is Latin for sloping and refers to the diagonally sloping dark patch on the upper posterior part of the body and fins.[5] Populations of similar fishes to C. declivis in the Marshall Islands are thought to be hybrids between this species and the Burgess' butterflyfish (C. burgessi).[6]

Utilisation

The Marquesas butterflyfish was formerly caught in numbers for the aquarium trade but this has declined since 2006.[1]

References
  1. Pyle, R.; Myers, R. & Pratchett, M. (2010). "Chaetodon declivis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T165708A6097568. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T165708A6097568.en. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  2. "Chaetodon declivis". Saltcorner. Bob Goemans. 2012. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  3. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2019). "Chaetodon declivis" in FishBase. December 2019 version.
  4. Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Chaetodon declivis". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  5. Christopher Scharpf & Kenneth J. Lazara (21 July 2020). "Order ACANTHURIFORMES (part 1): Families LOBOTIDAE, POMACANTHIDAE, DREPANEIDAE and CHAETODONTIDAE". The ETYFish Project Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  6. Joe Rowlett (2017). "An Undescribed Roaops Butterflyfish in the South Pacific". reefs.com.
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