TAXONOMY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes)
Order: Perciformes (Perch likes)
Family: Chaetodontidae (Butterflyfishes)

Genus/species: Chaetodon lunula

3120146362_b277962165_o

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS: Yellow-orange with darker upper half of the body. It has a black patch around its eyes (similar to a Raccoon masked face) with a broad white stripe posterior to it. Two black stripes bordered in yellow reach from the white stripe to the dorsal fin. Black markings around its eyes suggestive of a Racoon. Maximum length to 8 inches.

DISTRIBUTION/HABITAT: From East Africa throughout the Indo-Pacific, south to Australia, east to Hawaii. Found in shallow reef flats of lagoon and seaward reefs, to depth of 30 m (98 ft).

DIET IN THE WILD: Nocturnal omnivore feeding on coral polyps, worms, crustaceans, plankton, algae

REPRODUCTION: Oviparous forming pairs during breeding.

CONSERVATION: IUCN Least Concern (LC)

REMARKS: Chaetodon means “bristletooth,” and has a dental array well-suited to its diet. Has a great fondness for coral polyps, which makes our Steinhart denizen a better fit for the Reef Lagoon which contains no corals. There it feeds on other invertebrates.

Color Cluster PR12

2870252479_2fcdbb9d1f_o

Color Cluster PR12

flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/cas_docents/sets/72157625119200613/

WordPress Shortlink http://wp.me/p1DZ4b-R3

www.fishbase.org/summary/5565

EOL eol.org/pages/204383/details

Australian museum australianmuseum.net.au/movie/Racoon-Butterflyfish-Chaeto…