Details - Maldives Bio Diversity

Species Details

Details of Peppered butterflyfish will be displayed below

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Peppered butterflyfish

Peppered butterfly...

Common Name: peppered butterflyfish
Scientific Name: Chaetodon guttatissimus
Local Name: Lahjehi bibee
Dhivehi Name: ލައްޖެހިބިބީ

Animalia (Kingdom)

Chordata (Plylum)

Actinopterygii (Class)

Perciformes (Order)

Chaetodontidae (Family)

Chaetodon (Genus)

Peppered butterflyfish's description

Distinctive Characters - Dorsal fin with 13 spines and 21-23 rays. Anal fin with 3 spines and 16-18 rays. Pectoral fin with 14 rays. Body depth 1.5-1.6 in standard length.
Colour - Background colour olive. Black eye stripe and band through tail. Dusky band around caudal peduncle. Many small spots covering body and dorsal and anal fins arranged roughly in lines. Yellow margins to dorsal and anal fins.

Peppered butterflyfish's facts

Did you know?

Chaetodon guttatissimus might be confused with C. citrinellus, but the later is a paler, more yellow coloured species, with finer dotting and a characteristic black edged anal fin. C. guttatissimus is closely related to C. punctatofasciatus Cuvier and C. pelewensis Kner of the Pacific.

Peppered butterflyfish's Feeding

Feed on polychaetes, coral polyps, and algae.

Peppered butterflyfish's Reproduction

Form pairs during breeding.

Peppered butterflyfish's Conservation

Abundant in coral reefs of Maldives.

Peppered butterflyfish habitat

Populations are usually found on the coral reef areas of lagoons and seaward reef slopes. Animals occur singly, in pairs, or in small groups. This species is most likely an obligate corallivore and may decline in abundance following a significant decline in coral.

Coral Reef

Peppered butterflyfish threats

This species feeds on live coral, and may therefore decline in abundance following climate-induced coral depletion (Pratchett et al. 2008). However, no major declines were documented for this species in the Seychelles following extensive coral loss (Graham 2007). There appear to be no other major threats to this species.