''Chaetodon aureofasciatus'', the golden butterflyfish, golden- banded butterflyfish, golden-striped butterflyfish or sunburst butterflyfish, is a species of marine

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

, a

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 Atla ...

belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Chaetodontidae. This

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

eating species is found on shallow reefs in the western Pacific Ocean.

Description

''Chaetodon aureofasciatus'' has a whitish body which is cross-hatched with darker lines, creating a purple hue. The caudal,

anal Anal may refer to: Related to the anus *Related to the anus of animals: ** Anal fin, in fish anatomy ** Anal vein, in insect anatomy ** Anal scale, in reptile anatomy *Related to the human anus: ** Anal sex, a type of sexual activity involvin ...

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal co ...

and

pelvic The pelvis (plural pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of the trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis, or pelvic skeleton). The ...

fins are yellow. There is an orange vertical band, edges with black, running through the eyeblack edged orange band through the eyes and just behind the head there is another, thin vertical orange band of the head. The dorsal fin contains 11 spines and 20–22 soft rays, while the anal fin has 3 spines and 17–18 soft rays. This species attains a maximum

total length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish ...

of .

Distribution

''Chaetodon aureofasciatusis'' is found in the south western Pacific Ocean. Its range encompasses northern Australia where it is found from Coral Bay in Western Australia to Moreton Bay in Queensland. It is also found in southern Papua New Guinea.

Habitat and biology

''Chaetodon aureofasciatus'' is found on coastal and offshore reefs, frequently on silty coastal reefs, even those near the mouths of rivers and this species is able to withstand high percentages of freshwater. It is found at depths of and they are encountered as pairs or in small groups. This species is an obligate corallivore, feeding on coral

polyps A polyp in zoology is one of two forms found in the phylum Cnidaria, the other being the medusa. Polyps are roughly cylindrical in shape and elongated at the axis of the vase-shaped body. In solitary polyps, the aboral (opposite to oral) end is ...

, but can persist in areas of relatively sparse coral growth. It has been observed that this species has seemingly developed a wide diet than other corallivorous butterflyfishes, possibly in response to coral declines and that this may also account for their move into brackish water.

Systematics

''Chaetodon aureofasciatus'' was first formally described in 1878 by the Scottish-Australian politician, naturalist,

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

, and

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians (gymnophiona)) and rept ...

William John Macleay (1820–1891) with the type locality given as

Darwin, Northern Territory Darwin ( ; Larrakia: ) is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. With an estimated population of 147,255 as of 2019, the city contains the majority of the residents of the sparsely populated Northern Territory. It is the smalle ...

. This species is a close relative of the

eightband butterflyfish The eight-banded Butterflyfish (''Chaetodon octofasciatus''), also known as the eightband butterflyfish or eight-striped butterflyfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. It is found i ...

(''C. octofasciatus'') and less close to Rainford's butterflyfish (''C. rainfordi''). It is probably also closely related to the three-striped butterflyfish (''C. tricinctus'') and these diverse but always high-bodied species make up the

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

''Discochaetodon'', of which ''C. octofasciatus'' is the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

. They appear to be close relatives of the subgenus ''Tetrachaetodon'' which includes for example the

mirror butterflyfish The mirror butterflyfish or oval-spot butterflyfish (''Chaetodon speculum'') is a species of butterflyfish (family Chaetodontidae). It is found in the Indo-Pacific region from Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a ...

(''C. speculum'') and together with these would probably go in the proposed genus ''Megaprotodon'' if ''

Chaetodon ''Chaetodon'' is a tropical fish genus in the family Chaetodontidae. Like their relatives, they are known as "butterflyfish". This genus is by far the largest among the Chaetodontidae, with about 90 living species included here, though most migh ...

'' is split up. The golden butterflyfish is known to hybridise with Rainford's butterflyfish.

Use

''Chaetodon aureofasciatus'' is occasionally collected for 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 but it is regarded as difficult to maintain in captivity.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1900723 aureofasciatus