''Chaetodon auripes'', the oriental butterflyfish, is a species of marine
ray-finned fish, a
butterflyfish belonging to the
family Chaetodontidae. It is found in the western Pacific Ocean off Eastern Asia.
Description
''Chaetodon auripes'' has a mainly yellow body marked with a wide vertical band running through the eyes which is black with a slightly thinner white band immediately behind that. The juveniles have a black
ocellus on the upper part of soft-rayed part of the
dorsal fin. This fades as the fish matures. The dorsal,
anal and
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 all vivid yellow in colour.
The dorsal fin has 12 spines and 23-24 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 18-19 soft rays. This species reaches a
total length of .
[
]
Distribution
''Chaetodon auripes'' is found in the western Pacific Ocean from southern Japan, the Ryukyu Islands, Izu Islands
The are a group of volcanic islands stretching south and east from the Izu Peninsula of Honshū, Japan. Administratively, they form two towns and six villages; all part of Tokyo Prefecture. The largest is Izu Ōshima, usually called simply Ō ...
, Ogasawara Islands, the southwest of the Republic of Korea, Taiwan the southern coast of China to southern Vietnam.
Habitat and biology
''Chaetodon auripes'' occurs at depths of and is found on rocky reefs where coral and algae are present. Juveniles are typically found in tidal pools and sheltered rocky areas in shallow water. They gather in aggregations although they are also often encountered as solitary individuals. This species lives in cooler waters than other butterflyfish and can tolerate temperatures down to off Japan.algae
Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...
as well as worms, crustaceans, soft corals, stony corals, sea anemones, and some other benthic invertebrates.[
]
Systematics
''Chaetodon auripes'' was first formally described in 1901 by the American ichthyologists David Starr Jordan and John Otterbein Snyder with the type locality given as Nagasaki.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 ...
''Rabdophorus
''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 ...
'' which might warrant recognition as a distinct genus.
Utilisation
This species is rare 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.
References
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q324044
auripes
Fish described in 1901