''Chaetodon pictus'', the horseshoe butterflyfish, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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 Atlant ...

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 species is found in the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

, the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channe ...

and around

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

Description

''Chaetodon pictus'' has a white marked with oblique black lines which go from the eye to the dorsal fin base on the upper anterior part of the body and in the opposite direction elsewhere. The rear of the dorsal and

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 ...

s is yellow. There is a black vertical band running through the eye from the front of the dorsal fin, which joins onto the black dorsal fin margin and this in turn joins the rear vertical black band, forming the horseshoe that gives this species its common name. The

caudal 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 ...

is yellow with a vertical black band. The juveniles have a black spot on the posterior part of the dorsal fin. This species attains a maximum length of . This species is similar to the

vagabond butterflyfish The vagabond butterflyfish (''Chaetodon vagabundus''), also known as the crisscross butterflyfish, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, a butterflyfish belonging to the family Chaetodontidae. It is found in the Indo-Pacific region. Descript ...

(''C. vagabundus'') but has the black caudal fin bands coloured reddish brown instead and the soft parts of the dorsal and anal fins of adults have more obvious points.

Distribution

''Chaetodon pictus'' occurs in the northwestern Indian Ocean where it is found southern

, northern

east to Oman and possibly as far east as Pakistan.

Habitat and biology

''Chaetodon pictus'' is found at depths of . It is encountered over most coral reef habitats, from inner coastal reefs to outward slopes. It can also occur on rocky reefs where there is dead coral. It is an oviparous species which breeds as pairs. This species feeds mainly on coral Polyp (zoology), polyps and on algae.

Systematics

''Chaetodon pictus'' was first formally Species description, described in 1775 by the Swedish-speaking population of Finland, Swedish-speaking Finnish exploration, explorer, oriental studies, orientalist, natural history, naturalist Peter Forsskål (1732-1763), his description was published in 1775 by his companion on his expedition to Yemen, the orientalist and mathematician Carsten Niebuhr. The type locality was given as Al-Mukhā in Yemen. It belongs to the large subgenus ''Rabdophorus'' which might warrant recognition as a distinct genus. It is closely related to the vagabond butterflyfish and is treated as the same species by the aquarium trade.

References

Chaetodon, horseshoe butterflyfish Fish of the Red Sea Gulf of Aden Gulf of Oman Fish described in 1775, horseshoe butterflyfish Taxa named by Peter Forsskål {{Chaetodontidae-stub sv:Chaetodon pictus