Spotfin butterflyfish

The spotfin butterflyfish (Chaetodon ocellatus) is species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish from the family Chaetodontidae. It is found in the western Atlantic Ocean, in the Gulf of Mexico and most commonly found in the Caribbean Sea.

Spotfin butterflyfish
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Chaetodontidae
Genus: Chaetodon
Subgenus: Chaetodon (Chaetodon)
Species:
C. ocellatus
Binomial name
Chaetodon ocellatus
Bloch, 1787
Synonyms[2]
  • Chaetodon bimaculatus Bloch, 1790
  • Sarothrodus maculocinctus Gill, 1861
  • Sarothrodus ataeniatus Poey, 1868
  • Sarothrodus amplecticollis Poey, 1868

The name is derived from the dark spot on the fish's dorsal fin. This, combined with a vertical, black bar through the eye, is an adaptation that can confuse predators. The vertical black bar disappears as the fish gets older and other black lines become more prominent. Along with other Caribbean Seas reef dwelling tropical fish, many young spotfin butterfly fish get sucked up the gulf stream from July to late October and are dumped into Long Island bays.[3] The spotfin butterfly fish is very common and very hard to maintain in a tank. The spotfin butterfly fish can grow up to 6–8 inches.

References
  1. Rocha, L.A. (2010). "Chaetodon ocellatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T165611A6067709. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T165611A6067709.en. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  2. Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2019). "Chaetodon ocellatus" in FishBase. December 2019 version.
  3. Venkataraman, Bina. "For Aquariums, the Small Fry Swept North Become a Big Catch". www.nytimes.com/2008/08/05/science/05fish.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0. New York Times. Retrieved 28 November 2014.


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