Butterflyfish


The butterflyfish are a group of conspicuous tropical marine fish of the family Chaetodontidae; the bannerfish and coralfish are also included in this group. The approximately 129 species in 12 genera are found mostly on the reefs of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans. A number of species pairs occur in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, members of the huge genus Chaetodon.
Butterflyfish look like smaller versions of angelfish, but unlike these, lack preopercle spines at the gill covers. Some members of the genus Heniochus resemble the Moorish idol of the monotypic Zanclidae. All three families belong to the order Acanthuriformes and share a similar habitat.

Description and ecology

Butterflyfish mostly range from in length. The largest species, the lined butterflyfish and the saddle butterflyfish, C. ephippium, grow to. The common name references the brightly coloured and strikingly patterned bodies of many species, bearing shades of black, white, blue, red, orange, and yellow. Other species are dull in colour. Butterflyfish are a boundless, different group of marine percoids with delegates on practically all coral reef frameworks and in every single tropical ocean. Their bright and color patterns have drawn in much consideration, creating an abundance of data about their conduct and environment. Many have eyespots on their flanks and dark bands across their eyes, not unlike the patterns seen on butterfly wings. Their deep, laterally narrow bodies are easily noticed through the profusion of reef life. The conspicuous coloration of butterflyfish may be intended for interspecies communication. Butterflyfish have uninterrupted dorsal fins with tail fins that may be rounded or truncated, but are never forked.
Generally diurnal and frequenting waters less than deep express such an armored stage.

Taxonomy, systematics and evolution

The Chaetodontidae can be, but are not usually, divided into two lineages that arguably are subfamilies. The subfamily name Chaetodontinae is a little-used leftover from the period when the Pomacanthidae and Chaetodontidae were united under the latter name as a single family. Hence, Chaetodontinae is today considered a junior synonym of Chaetodontidae. In any case, one lineage of Chaetodontidae contains the "typical" butterflyfish around Chaetodon, while the other unites the bannerfish and coralfish genera. As the Perciformes are highly paraphyletic, the precise relationships of the Chaetodontidae as a whole are badly resolved.
Chaetodontidae is classified within the suborder Percoidei by the 5th edition of Fishes of the World, but they are placed in an unnamed clade which sits outside the superfamily Percoidea. This clade contains 7 families which appear to have some relationship to Acanthuroidei, Monodactylidae, and Priacanthidae. Other authorities have paced the family in the order Chaetodontiformes alongside the family Leiognathidae. Presently, based on the most recent phylogenetic analyses, Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes places it in the large, diverse order Acanthuriformes. Molecular analyses suggest that the Chaetodontidae shared a common ancestor with the Scatophagidae and Pomacanthidae that lived during the Early Eocene.
Before DNA sequencing, the taxonomy was confused about whether to treat these as species or subspecies. Also, numerous subgenera have been proposed for splitting out of Chaetodon, and it is becoming clear how to subdivide the genus if that is desired.

Fossil record

The fossil record of this group is disputed and marginal. Their restriction to coral reefs means their carcasses are liable to be dispersed by scavengers, overgrown by corals, and any that do fossilize will not long survive erosion. Many Eocene-aged fish such as Pygaeus have been variously referred to Chaetodontidae in the past; if used for calibration, it can be deduced that most living genera were probably distinct by the end of the Paleogene 23 Mya. However, these Eocene genera cannot be reliably referred to Chaetodontidae.
The earliest confirmed fossil specimens of Chaetodontidae are an indeterminate larval specimen from Frauenweiler, Germany, two tholichthys specimens from the Menilite Formation of Poland, as well as the extinct species Chaetodon wattsi from Italy; all date to the Early Oligocene. The occurrence of the first confirmed butterflyfish in the Early Oligocene is supported by molecular phylogenies indicating that the family may have arose during the Late Eocene.

Genera

The family can be divided in two groups considered distinct subfamilies by Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes:
  • Family Chaetodontidae Rafinesque, 1815
  • * Subfamily Heniochinae Kaup, 1860
  • ** Amphichaetodon Burgess, 1978
  • ** Coradion Kaup, 1860
  • ** Chelmon Cloquet, 1817
  • ** Chelmonops Bleeker, 1876
  • ** Forcipiger Jordan & McGregor, 1898
  • ** Hemitaurichthys Bleeker, 1876
  • ** Heniochus Cuvier, 1816
  • ** Johnrandallia Nalbant, 1974
  • * Subfamily Chaetodontinae Rafinesque, 1815
  • ** Chaetodon Linnaeus, 1758
  • ** Prognathodes Gill, 1862
  • * Subfamily incertae sedis
  • ** Parachaetodon Bleeker, 1874
  • ** Roa Jordan, 1923

    Timeline


ImageSize = width:1000px height:auto barincrement:15px
PlotArea = left:10px bottom:50px top:10px right:10px
Period = from:-66 till:10
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:-66
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:-66
TimeAxis = orientation:hor
AlignBars = justify
Colors =
#legends
id:CAR value:claret
id:ANK value:rgb
id:HER value:teal
id:HAD value:green
id:OMN value:blue
id:black value:black
id:white value:white
id:cenozoic value:rgb
id:paleogene value:rgb
id:paleocene value:rgb
id:eocene value:rgb
id:oligocene value:rgb
id:neogene value:rgb
id:miocene value:rgb
id:pliocene value:rgb
id:quaternary value:rgb
id:pleistocene value:rgb
id:holocene value:rgb
BarData=
bar:eratop
bar:space
bar:periodtop
bar:space
bar:NAM1
bar:NAM2
bar:space
bar:period
bar:space
bar:era
PlotData=
align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark: width:25
shift:
bar:periodtop
from: -66 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text:Paleocene
from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text:Eocene
from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text:Oligocene
from: -23.03 till: -5.332 color:miocene text:Miocene
from: -5.332 till: -2.588 color:pliocene text:Plio.
from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text:Pleist.
from: -0.0117 till: 0 color:holocene text:H.
bar:eratop
from: -66 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:Paleogene
from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:Neogene
from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text:Q.
PlotData=
align:left fontsize:M mark: width:5 anchor:till align:left
color:oligocene bar:NAM1 from: -28.4 till: 0 text: Chaetodon
color:miocene bar:NAM2 from: -23.03 till: 0 text: Chelmon
PlotData=
align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark: width:25
bar:period
from: -66 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text:Paleocene
from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text:Eocene
from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text:Oligocene
from: -23.03 till: -5.332 color:miocene text:Miocene
from: -5.332 till: -2.588 color:pliocene text:Plio.
from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text:Pleist.
from: -0.0117 till: 0 color:holocene text:H.
bar:era
from: -66 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:Paleogene
from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:Neogene
from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text:Q.