THE STEINHART AQUARIUM - Gulf of Guinea Science ...

dorsal fin, and yellow tail; two vertical black
bars, one on the head through the eye and a
black bar across the caudal peduncle. Max
length: c. 15 cm.
Diet: Coral polyps, polychaete worms,
shrimps, amphipods and hydroids.
Reproduction and Development: Broadcast
spawners. Form pairs during breeding. The
female releases 3,000–4,000 eggs. The fertilized
eggs are small, transparent, and hatch within
a day into minute, translucent silvery-grey
larvae.
Mortality/Longevity: Preyed upon by larger
fish, such as moray eels, snappers, and
groupers. If it can’t find cover, will defend
itself by facing its predator with dorsal spines
erected, suggesting a sharply distasteful meal.
Remarks: Typical of butterflyfishes, its mouth
is adapted to feeding in crevices. The teeth are
curved at the tips and designed for scraping
and nipping at the small invertebrates. Teeth
are in several rows in each jaw, giving the
appearance of a brush. Origin of name: chaeto
= “bristle” and donte = “tooth.”
Vagabond Butterflyfish
Chaetodon vagabundus (Chaetodontidae)
Butterflyfishes
Distribution: Indo-Pacific.
Habitat: Reef flats, lagoon, and seaward reefs
to depths of 30 m.
Appearance: Black bands over head, rear body
and tail. The soft dorsal, anal and caudal fins
are yellow. Max length: 23 cm.
Diet: Omnivorous; feed on algae, coral polyps,
sea anemones, crustaceans and polychaete
worms. Both male and female defend a feeding
territory against other pairs of their species,
but are not particularly aggressive toward
other species.
Reproduction and Development: Oviparous,
monogamous. Open water egg scatterers.
Pelagic larvae settle in shallow back reef
habitats.
Remarks: Vertical line going through the eye
disguises the eye and makes it harder for a
predator to figure out which is the front of the
fish and which is the back, perhaps giving the
butterflyfish a brief chance to escape while the
predator hesitates.
California Academy of Sciences
149
Copperband Butterflyfish
Chelmon rostratus (Chaetodontidae)
Butterflyfishes
Distribution: Andaman Sea to Papua New
Guinea, north to Ryukyu Island, south to
Northwest Australia and Great Barrier Reef.
Habitat: Estuaries, coastal reefs, silty inner
reefs, 1–30 m. Solitary or in pairs.
Appearance: Length to 19 cm. Deep, highly
compressed body. Beak-like mouth. Body whitish
with 4 vertical orange bands. Black false
eyespot on terminal orange band.
Reproduction and Development: Planktonic
eggs hatch after a couple days. Larval stage
lasts several weeks to perhaps 2 months. During
a distinctive late larval stage the head and
body are covered with bony plates.
Remarks: Distinctive snout used for prying
into the crevices of coral.
A food fish marketed locally. Reported to be
“not good” from a culinary standpoint.
Western Talma
Chelmonops curiosus (Chaetodontidae)
Butterflyfishes
Distribution: Southern and Central Western
Australia.
Habitat: Coastal rocky reefs.
Appearance: Deep bodied, compressed fish
with long pointed snout. Silvery gray with five
vertical brown bars. Max. size: 26 cm.
Diet: Invertebrates and algae.
Longnose Butterflyfish
Forcipiger longirostris (Chaetodontidae)
Butterflyfishes
Distribution: Indo-Pacific from East Africa
to Indonesia, Philippines, Hawaii and French
Polynesia; southwest Japan to Great Barrier
Reef.
Habitat: Non-migratory; usually found, alone
or in pairs, in the outer reefs from 3–70 m.
Appearance: Yellow with black upper head and
silvery white below; extremely elongated snout;
black spots on breast, spot on anal fin below tail
base. Individuals occasionally turn dark brown,
a color phase that does not seem to be related to
sex or reproduction. Maximum size: 22 cm.
Diet: Mainly small crustaceans.
Reproduction and Development: Monogamous;
form breeding pairs. Ovoviviparous,