The brownburnie (''Chaetodon blackburnii''), also known as Blackburn's butterflyfish or the rayed butterflyfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. It is found in the western Indian Ocean.

Description

The brownburnie is rather drab when compared to many of its congeners. The body of this species is mainly brownish black with the head and front part of the body being bright yellow with a black vertical bar running across the eye. The dark colour extends onto the dorsal fin and the

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

while the

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two en ...

s are bright yellow. The dorsal fin contains 16 spines and 21-23 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 17-18 soft rays. This species attains a maximum total length of .

Distribution

The brownburnie is found in the western Indian Ocean. It is distributed along the East African coast from Kenya in the north to the

Mbhashe River Mbhashe River is one of the major rivers in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. It flows in a southeastern direction and has a catchment area of 6,030 km. The river drains into the Indian Ocean through an estuary located near the ligh ...

in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It has also been recorded from the

French Southern and Antarctic Lands The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (french: Terres australes et antarctiques françaises, TAAF) is an Overseas Territory (french: Territoire d'outre-mer or ) of France. It consists of: # Adélie Land (), the French claim on the continent ...

in the Mozambique Channel islands, Madagascar, Mauritius,

Rodrigues Rodrigues (french: Île Rodrigues, link=yes ; Creole: ) is a autonomous outer island of the Republic of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, about east of Mauritius. It is part of the Mascarene Islands, which include Mauritius and Réunion. Rodr ...

and

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

in the Indian Ocean.

Habitat and biology

The brownburnie inhabits shallow rocky reefs and calm bays with limited growth of coral. They are found wither solitarily or in pairs. They are omnivorous and feed on benthic invertebrates such as

bivalves Bivalvia (), in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of marine and freshwater molluscs that have laterally compressed bodies enclosed by a shell consisting of two hinged parts. As a group, bival ...

, soft coral polyps, crustaceans and worms as well as zooplankton. it is an oviparous species in which the male and females mate as pairs.

Taxonomy and etymology

The brownburnie was first formally described in 1836 by the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

naturalist Julien Desjardins (1799-1840) with the type locality given as Mauritius. The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

honours the English jurist Edward Berens Blackburn (1786-1839) who was the Chief Justice of Mauritius from 1824 to 1835 and president of the ''Société d’Histoire Naturelle de l’Ile Maurice'' (the Natural History Society of the island of Mauritius).

Utilisation

The brownburnie is rarely seen in the

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

trade because of its comparatively drab colouration.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1055327

Brownburnie The brownburnie (''Chaetodon blackburnii''), also known as Blackburn's butterflyfish or the rayed butterflyfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. It is found in the western Indian Oc ...

Fish described in 1836