Sunburst butterflyfish facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sunburst butterflyfish |
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| Western color morph at Pemba Island (Tanzania) | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Chaetodon
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| Species: |
kleinii
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| Synonyms | |
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The sunburst butterflyfish (Chaetodon kleinii) is also known as the black-lipped butterflyfish or Klein's butterflyfish. It is a type of ray-finned fish that belongs to the butterflyfish family called Chaetodontidae. This fish lives in the coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific Ocean.
Contents
What Does It Look Like?
The sunburst butterflyfish has a yellowish-brown body. It usually has one or two wide, lighter stripes going up and down its body. One stripe runs from near its top fin down to its belly. Sometimes, another stripe goes from the middle of its back to the center of its body.
A black stripe goes vertically across its eye. The area in front of this stripe is whitish, and its snout (nose area) is black. The fish's color can change a bit depending on where it lives. Fish from the western part of their home usually have one light brown stripe. Those from the eastern part have two white stripes. Some fish might also have many tiny dotted lines on their sides.
Where Does It Live?
This fish is originally from the Indo-Pacific region. You can find it from the Red Sea and East Africa all the way to the Hawaiian Islands and Samoa. It also lives north of southern Japan and south of Australia and New Caledonia. Surprisingly, it can also be found in the Galápagos Islands in the eastern Pacific Ocean.
Where Does It Live and What Does It Eat?
The sunburst butterflyfish lives in water that is 4 to 61 meters deep. It usually prefers deeper lagoons, channels, and reefs that face the open sea. These fish often swim alone, but you might see them in pairs, especially when they are breeding. They lay eggs, which means they are oviparous.
These fish are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and animals. They mostly eat soft coral polyps, especially types like Litophyton viridis and Sarcophyton tracheliophorum. They also munch on algae and tiny floating animals called zooplankton.
In a home aquarium, Chaetodon kleinii will eat meaty foods like mysis shrimp. While they do eat coral, which can sometimes be a problem for coral keepers, they also like to eat Aiptasia. These are small sea anemones that can become a pest in saltwater aquariums. So, they can actually help keep aquariums clean!
Who Named This Fish?
The sunburst butterflyfish was first officially described in 1790 by a German scientist named Marcus Elieser Bloch. He gave the location where he found the first fish as the East Indies.
The fish's specific name, kleinii, honors another German scholar, Jacob Theodor Klein. He was a lawyer, historian, botanist, zoologist, and mathematician. Klein drew this fish in one of his books about fish, which caught Bloch's attention.
See also
In Spanish: Pez mariposa de Klein para niños
