Speckled butterflyfish

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Speckled butterflyfish

Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)^[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Acanthuriformes
Family:	Chaetodontidae
Genus:	Chaetodon
Subgenus:	Chaetodon (Exornator)
Species:	C. citrinellus
Binomial name
*Chaetodon citrinellus* G. Cuvier, 1831
Synonyms^[2]
Exornator exornator citrinellus (Cuvier, 1831) Chaetodon nigripes De Vis, 1884 Chaetodon citrinellus semipunctatus Ahl, 1923

Chaetodon citrinellus is a species of butterflyfish (family Chaetodontidae). It is commonly known as the speckled butterflyfish or citron butterflyfish. It is found in the Indo-Pacific: the Red Sea, East Africa to the Hawaiian, Marquesan and Tuamotu islands, north to southern Japan and south to Australia.^[2]

It is a distinct species, most closely related to the fourspot butterflyfish (C. quadrimaculatus). Together they are basal in the subgenus Exornator, and might be intermediate between the core group of this subgenus and the species of the Rhombochaetodon (or Roaops) lineage. If that is correct, the latter would require to be merged into Exornator. If the genus Chaetodon is split up, Exornator might become a subgenus of Lepidochaetodon.^[3]^[4]

Description and ecology

As its names suggest, it is pale yellow with numerous small dark spots. There is also a black bar extending above and below the eye and a black margin to the anal fin. The largest recorded specimen was 13 centimeters (5.1 in) long.^[2]

C. citrinellus is common in shallow exposed reef flats, lagoons, and seaward reefs, generally in relatively open areas with scattered corals. They may occasionally be found at greater depth, as deep as 36 meters (118 ft). They feed on small worms, small benthic invertebrates, coral polyps and filamentous algae.^[2]

Adults usually swim in pairs (pairs form during breeding), while juveniles are more often seen in small aggregations and commonly mix with other similar sized juveniles, especially of the Sunburst Butterflyfish (C. kleinii). They are oviparous.^[2]

References

^ Myers, R.F.; Pratchett, M. (2010). "Chaetodon citrinellus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2010: e.T165668A6085813. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2010-4.RLTS.T165668A6085813.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Chaetodon citrinellus". FishBase. December 2019 version.
^ 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. Bibcode:2007MolPE..45...50F. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.05.018. PMID 17625921.
^ 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" (PDF). The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology. Supplement 14: 77–86. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-08-11.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Chaetodon miliaris.

Photos of Speckled butterflyfish on Sealife Collection

Taxon identifiers
Chaetodon citrinellus	Wikidata: Q1969551 Wikispecies: Chaetodon citrinellus ADW: Chaetodon_citrinellus AFD: Chaetodon_citrinellus BOLD: 89252 CoL: TBVK FishBase: 5561 GBIF: 2385525 iNaturalist: 97150 IRMNG: 10799191 ITIS: 169566 IUCN: 165668 NCBI: 109686 OBIS: 218744 Open Tree of Life: 429677 WoRMS: 218744

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