Threadfin Butterflyfish
Chaetodon auriga
Summary 3
The threadfin butterflyfish (Chaetodon auriga) is a species of butterflyfish (family Chaetodontidae).
Description 4
Common names: butterflyfish (English), mariposa (Espanol)
Chaetodon auriga Forsskål, 1775
Threadfin butterflyfish
Body a strongly compressed oval disc; mouth small, at end of a short, pointed snout that is 2x eye diameter; teeth long and slender; dorsal fin with XIII, 22-25, front soft rays elongated into a filament; anal fin III, 19-21, 2nd spine longer than 3rd; rear edges of dorsal and anal fins bluntly angular; tail edge straight to rounded; scales rough, covering dorsal and anal fins as well as head and body; lateral line in a high arch, incomplete (ends under dorsal fin); 33-43 lateral line scales.
Head and front ½ of body white; rear half of body, tail and rear parts of dorsal and anal fins yellow; a black bar from eye down; thin dark lines forming chevron pattern on body; a large black spot on upper soft dorsal.
Size: 23 cm.
Habitat: rocky and coral reefs.
Depth: 1-30 m.
An Indo-Pacific species; as a vagrant in the Galapagos.
Sources and Credits
- (c) zsispeo, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://www.flickr.com/photos/zsispeo/15575220479/
- (c) Williams, Jeffrey T., some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), https://collections.nmnh.si.edu/services/media.php?env=fishes&irn=10332847
- (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaetodon_auriga
- (c) Shorefishes of the tropical eastern Pacific online information system. www.stri.org/sftep, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/32128029
