''Chaetodontoplus caeruleopunctatus'', the bluespotted angelfish, 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

marine angelfish Marine angelfish are perciform fish of the family Pomacanthidae. They are found on shallow reefs in the tropical Atlantic, Indian, and mostly western Pacific Oceans. The family contains seven genera and about 86 species. They should not be conf ...

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 ...

Pomacanthidae Marine angelfish are perciform fish of the family Pomacanthidae. They are found on shallow reefs in the tropical Atlantic, Indian, and mostly western Pacific Oceans. The family contains seven genera and about 86 species. They should not be conf ...

. It is from the Western-Pacific Ocean.

Description

''Chaetodontoplus caeruleopunctatus'' has a pale orange-brown head and anterior part of the body, while the remainder of the body is dusky brown to bluish-black marked with dense blue spots. The

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 c ...

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 are dark brown with blue margins, while 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 vivid yellow. The juveniles are dark brown, nearl black with a yellow stripe on the forward part of the back and another on the head and around the dorsal fin, their tail is yellow and white. The dorsal fin contains 13 spines and 17 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 17 soft rays. This species attains a maximum total length of .

Distribution

''Chaetodontoplus caeruleopunctatus'' is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the Philippines where it is rarely recorded in the wild.

Habitat and biology

''Chaetodontoplus caeruleopunctatus'' is found at depths between . It prefers rock areas with a rich growth of sponges and algae. Its diet is composed of

sponges Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through ...

and

tunicates A tunicate is a marine invertebrate animal, a member of the subphylum Tunicata (). It is part of the Chordata, a phylum which includes all animals with dorsal nerve cords and notochords (including vertebrates). The subphylum was at one time ca ...

. Like all other angelfish it is a

protogynous hermaphrodite Sequential hermaphroditism (called dichogamy in botany) is a type of hermaphroditism that occurs in many fish, gastropods, and plants. Sequential hermaphroditism occurs when the individual changes its sex at some point in its life. In particular, ...

, with all individuals being female initially and the dominant ones changing to males.

Systematics

''Chaetodontoplus caeruleopunctatus'' was first formally described in 1976 by the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

ichthyologists Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 33,400 species of fish had been described as of October ...

Fujio Yasuda and Yoshiaki Tominaga with the type locality given as the Philippines. The position of this species is indeterminate and its closest relatives have not yet been resolved.It was proposed that it was a hybrid but the consistency of appearance of specimens collected and their numbers strongly suggest it is a valid species.

Utlisation

''Chaetodontoplus caeruleopunctatus'' despite its apparent rarity in the wild is quite frequently found in the aquarium trade and has been bred in captivity.

References

* Pete education:: https://web.archive.org/web/20120310055708/http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=16+1879&aid=2057 {{Commons category, Chaetodontoplus caeruleopunctatus caeruleopunctatus Fish described in 1976