- Not to be confused with the Hooded Butterflyfish (Chaetodon larvatus).
The blue-cheeked butterflyfish, Chaetodon semilarvatus, is a species of butterflyfish (family Chaetodontidae). It is found in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, at depths of between 3 and 20 m.
The blue-cheeked butterflyfish belongs to the large subgenus Rabdophorus which might warrant recognition as a distinct genus. In this group, it seems closest to a group containing the Blackback butterflyfish (C. melannotus), the spot-naped butterflyfish (C. oxycephalus), or the peculiar black-wedged butterflyfish (C. falcula) and Pacific double-saddle butterflyfish or "false falcula", (C. ulietensis). Though the present species does not share their white body with black on the back and caudal peduncle and even lacks the typical eyestripe of Chaetodon, it has the same tell-tale blue vertical lines as these species.
Description
Its length is up to 13Â cm (5.1Â in). It is mostly yellow, with thin slate blue vertical lines on the sides and a slate blue cheek patch in lieu of the usual black eyestripe of most Chaetodon.
Behavior
This species is one of the few fish species to have long-term mates. In the wild, the fish eats hard corals as well as benthic invertebrates.
Footnotes
References
- Fessler, Jennifer L. & Westneat, Mark W. (2007): Molecular phylogenetics of the butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae): Taxonomy and biogeography of a global coral reef fish family. Mol. Phylogenet. Evol. 45(1): 50â€"68. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.05.018 (HTML abstract)
- FishBase (2008): Chaetodon semilarvatus. Version of 2008-JUL-24. Retrieved 2008-SEP-01.
- Hsu, Kui-Ching; Chen, Jeng-Ping & Shao, Kwang-Tsao (2007): Molecular phylogeny of Chaetodon (Teleostei: Chaetodontidae) in the Indo-West Pacific: evolution in geminate species pairs and species groups. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement 14: 77-86. PDF fulltext
