Chelmonops curiosus facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Chelmonops curiosus |
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The Chelmonops curiosus, also known as the truncate coralfish or squareback butterflyfish, is a special kind of ray-finned fish. It belongs to the butterflyfish family called Chaetodontidae. This fish is only found in the waters around Australia.
Contents
What Does It Look Like?
The Chelmonops curiosus has a body that is very deep and flat, almost like a pancake! Its body is more than half as tall as its total length. It has a small head with a long, pointy snout and a tiny mouth at the very end of its snout.
This fish has one long dorsal fin (the fin on its back). It's hard to see where the spiny part of this fin ends and the soft part begins. The first spine is very small, but they get longer as you go further back. Young fish have a rounded soft dorsal fin, but in adults, it becomes pointy and looks like a triangle when it's raised.
The anal fin (the fin on its belly) is smaller than the dorsal fin. Its caudal fin (tail fin) is flat at the end, which is why it's sometimes called the "squareback" butterflyfish.
The main color of this fish is a shiny steel grey. It has four black stripes that go up and down its body. These stripes have shiny silver edges and get wider towards the tail. The pelvic fins (fins on its underside) are black. Young Chelmonops curiosus fish have a special eyespot on their soft dorsal fin. This spot looks like an eye and helps to confuse predators. As the fish grows up, this eyespot fades away.
The spiny part of its dorsal fin has 11 spines. The soft part has 25 to 27 soft rays. The anal fin has 3 spines and 19 to 20 soft rays. This fish can grow up to 26 centimeters (about 10 inches) long.
Where Does It Live?
The Chelmonops curiosus is found only in the seas around Australia. You can find it along the southern coast, from Victor Harbor, South Australia, all the way to Shark Bay in Western Australia on the western coast.
Where Does It Hang Out and What Does It Do?
This fish loves to live on rocky reefs along the coast. It especially likes vertical rock walls. Sometimes, it even lives near man-made structures like pylons (big poles that support docks) and jetties. These areas often have cloudy water.
Young Chelmonops curiosus fish are often seen swimming among beds of seaweed. Adult fish are usually found swimming in pairs.
This fish is an omnivorous eater, which means it eats both plants and animals. Its diet includes small worms, tiny crustaceans (like small crabs or shrimp), and algae (seaweed). They also breed in pairs. It seems that each pair of fish defends its own area, meaning they are territorial.
How Are People Using It?
Sometimes, the Chelmonops curiosus is caught for people to keep in home aquariums. However, it is not often sent out of Australia to other countries.
See also
In Spanish: Chelmonops curiosus para niños
