Butterflyfishes of the genus Chaetodon

Found this article on the net - as if identification isn't already difficult enough !!! :
https://reefs.com/2015/11/02/first-...ian-endemic-butterflyfish-chaetodon-fremblii/

 

Slightly off-topic, but as I was researching for my blog I discovered that several butterflyfishes, 2 of them Chaetodon, have now been reported in the Mediterranean. They result from northwards migration along the Suez canal from their home in the Red Sea.

 

Last Saterday ( Oct. 22 ) I visited Artis Zoo - Amsterdam for the second time this year and payed special intrest in the Butterfly-fishes.
2 species are kept at the moment:
Raccoon butterflyfish ( Chaetodon lunula ) at least 2 speciens in a large mixed coral-aquarium.
Threadfin butterflyfish ( Chaetodon auriga ) a number of specimens placed in a number of different aquariums with a range of other species.
A third species - the Sunburst butterflyfish ( Chaetodon kleinii ) was seen by devilfish and myself on our visit at the end of February this year but this time I was unable to find it.
Photos of the species and some of the aquariums have already been up-loaded in the Artis-Gallery.

 

I visited two institutions this weekend keeping butterflyfish-

In the KidZooU section of the Philadelphia Zoo, there is one fish tank with two Chaetodon species:
Chaetodon lunula Raccoon butterflyfish
Chaetodon collare Pakistani butterflyfish

The nearby Adventure Aquarium keeps three species in various locations:
Chaetodon capistratus Foureye butterflyfish
Chaetodon ocellatus Spotfin butterflyfish
Chartodon auriga Auriga butterflyfish

 

Thank you for this information jayids2 !

 

Today I visited the Fishshop "Coralandfishstore" in Breda - the Netherlands and as usually they had several Butterflyfishes - both of the genus Chaetodon as of other genusses. Among them species which I have seen already on numberous occasions but among them was also a species which I didn;t recognized and at home I started to search which species this was. Already soon I found it and I'm quite sure it's a lifer for me: the Indian vagabund butterflyfish - Chaetodon decussatus - a species currently not represented in any European public collection.
Of course I've made several pictures of them because sofar it was not represented in our Gallary and these pictures can be found in the Netherlands - other Gallery :
Indian vagabund butterflyfish | ZooChat
Indian vagabund butterflyfish - Chaetodon decussatus | ZooChat
IMG_7372 Indian vagabund butterflyfish - Chaetodon decussatus | ZooChat

 

Because it will be closed next month, I decided to pay a last visit to Aquatopia - Antwerp / Belgium today.
Of course I had a special look-out for the Butterflyfishes, was however only able to find 2 species:
Sunbrust butterflyfish - Chaetodon kleinii
Threadfin butterflyfish - Chaetodon auriga
For 3 other species I found sign but couldn't find the fishes themselfs but because of the closing in a few days it's possible that some fishes already have been moved to other collections. The 3 species I found sign for are :
Blue-cheeked butterflyfish - Chaetodon semilarvatus
Thread-fin butterflyfish - Chaetodon auriga
Millet butterflyfish - Chaetodon miliaris : esp. this last species was of great intrest because Zootierliste don't mention any collection keeping it at the moment in Europe and therefor it would be intresting to know more about the animal(s?) kept at Aquatopia - are they still there, if they died, when was it, if they were send to another collection, to which one ?
On my way to the toilet I discovered some more Butterflyfishes, some nicely done murals where clearly recognzible as being Butterflyfishes.
Will up-load some photos of the living Butterflyfishes, the signs and the murals in the Aquatopia-Gallery.

 

Went today for the first time this year to Coralandfishstore in Breda - the Netherlands to have a look if they had some intresting species and - as usualy - they did.
The number of Butterflyfishes of the genus Chaetodon were however not very large but among them there was a very intresting one from which I was unable to recognize the species.
Back at home directly starting to look what I had seen and yes, again a new species for me :
the Eastern triangle butterflyfish ( Chaetodon baronessa )
Because sofar only one picture was to be found in the Gallery ( by kakapo in the Spain - other Gallary, I've uploaded already some more in the Netherlands - other Gallery :
Eastern triangle butterflyfish - Chaetodon baronessa | ZooChat
Eastern triangle butterflyfish - Chaetodon baronessa | ZooChat

 

Looks like that Chaetodon baronessa is easier to be found in aquarium/pet shops than in public aquariums or zoos, since all photos in Zoochat come from that source

 

When the Christmas island Gallery is created I have a some photos of this species to upload.



Hix

 

Looking forward to it Hix !

 

2 new species for the Gallery have been up-loaded by Hix in the meantime :
Ovalspot Butterflyfish (left) and Bennett's Butterflyfish | ZooChat

Spotted Butterflyfish | ZooChat

 

Can you do one for Meiacanthus or Centropyge next please?

 

Creating such a thread is quite a job -esp. finding the photos because they are scattered through the complete Galleries under all kind of different ( partly fantasy ) names and even without a name or with an ID-request.
Evenso I had planned to make at least one follow-up genus after Cheatodon and Centropyge was one of the candidates and Meiacanthus also sounds quite intresting...
Lets see when I have some spare-time.

 

I've already got a few of the Centropyges posted, including a hybrid!



Hix

 

Thanks to Hix again some photos of species which were so far not represented in the Gallery:
Lined butterflyfish ( Chaetodon lineolatus ) :Lined Butterflyfish | ZooChat
Meyer's or Scawled butterflyfish ( Chaetodon meyeri ) :Meyer's Butterflyfish | ZooChat

And after some photos from the pet-trade also the first photo ( at least in the Gallery ) of a wild Eastern triangular butterflyfish ( Chaetodon baronessa ) : Eastern Triangular Butterflyfish | ZooChat

 

Mmmm! Meyer's it's my favourite of the genus. I never saw it in any aquarium, I suppose that it's because it's a very specialized polyp feeder that can prey only on a few or one species of coral.

 

Do you know which coral species those would be? We've had a massive coral bleaching event here last March/April and up to 90% of the coral dies in some areas. Meyer's are still around but not as plentiful as previously, and ornatissimus is even harder to find.



Hix

 

Made today my regular visit to Coralandfishstore in Breda - the Netherlands and found..... A LIFER ! Because the species was also still not represented in the Gallery I already have up-loaded some photos of this beautifull species : Marquesas butterflyfish ( Chaetodon declivis ).
Photos can be found in The Netherlands - other Gallery like this one :

Chaetodon declivis - Marquesas butterflyfish | ZooChat

 

Small video of the Marquesas butterflyfish which I made at Coralandfishstore - Breda :