Dot-and-dash Butterflyfish, Chaetodon pelewensis Kner 1868

Other Names: Dot and dash Butterflyfish, Dot-and-dash Butterfly-fish, Dot-and-dash Coralfish, Sunset Butterflyfish

A Dot-and-dash Butterflyfish, Chaetodon pelewensis, at Erscotts Hole, Lord Howe island. Source: Andrew J. Green / Reef Life Survey. License: CC By Attribution

Summary:

A yellowish to tannish-yellow butterflyfish with diagonal rows of dark bands that break up into spots anteriorly and on the lower sides, a black spot on top of the head, and an orange bar through the eye.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. 2021, Chaetodon pelewensis in Fishes of Australia, accessed 20 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/2393

Dot-and-dash Butterflyfish, Chaetodon pelewensis Kner 1868

More Info

Distribution	Scott Reef, Western Australia, and the northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, to Sydney, New South Wales, including reefs in the Coral Sea, also the Lord Howe Island Province and Norfolk Island in the Tasman Sea. Elsewhere, the species occurs in the tropical, south-west-central Pacific. Usually seen in pairs on outer reefs.
Features	Dorsal fin XIII-IV, 22-25; Anal fin III, 17-18; Pectoral fin 14-15; Lateral-line scales 39-47.
Feeding	Feed mostly on coral polyps and small benthic invertebrates.
Remarks	Hybridises with the Spotbanded Butterflyfish, Chaetodon punctatofasciatus
Similar Species	De Vis, C.W. 1884. New fishes in the Queensland Museum. No. 2. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 1 9(3): 453-462 (described from Queensland as Chaetodon germanus) Gill, A.C. & Reader, S.E. 1992. Fishes. pp. 90-93, 193-228 in Hutchings, P. (ed.) Reef Biology. A Survey of Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs, South Pacific. Canberra : Australian National Parks Vol. 3, Kowari 230 pp. Grant, E.M. 2002. Guide to Fishes. Redcliffe : EM Grant Pty Ltd 880 pp.
Etymology	The species is named for the Pellew Islands (= Palau, in error as the species does not occur in Palau).
Species Citation	Chaetodon pelewensis Kner, 1868, Sitzungsb. Akad. Wissensch. Wein 58(3-4): 306. Type locality: Palau (as Pellew Islands).
Author	Bray, D.J. 2021
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Dot-and-dash Butterflyfish, Chaetodon pelewensis Kner 1868

References

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Allen, G.R., Hoese, D.F., Paxton, J.R., Randall, J.E., Russell, B.C., Starck, W.A., Talbot, F.H. & Whitley, G.P. 1976. Annotated checklist of the fishes of Lord Howe Island. Records of the Australian Museum 30(15): 365-454.

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Findley, J.S. & Findley, M.T. 2001. Global, regional, and local patterns in species richness and abundance of butterflyfishes. Ecological Monographs 7(1): 69-91.

Francis, M. 1993. Checklist of the coastal fishes of Lord Howe, Norfolk, and Kermadec Islands, southwest Pacific Ocean. Pacific Science 47(2): 136-170.

Gill, A.C. & Reader, S.E. 1992. Fishes. pp. 90-93, 193-228 in Hutchings, P. (ed.) Reef Biology. A Survey of Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs, South Pacific. Canberra : Australian National Parks Vol. 3, Kowari 230 pp.

Grant, E.M. 1975. Guide to Fishes. Brisbane : Queensland Government, Co-ordinator General’s Department 640 pp.

Grant, E.M. 2002. Guide to Fishes. Redcliffe : EM Grant Pty Ltd 880 pp.

Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3)

Kner, R. 1868. Über neue Fische aus dem Museum der Herren J. Cäs. Godeffroy und Sohn in Hamburg. Sitzungsberichte der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien 58(1–2): 26-31.

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Pyle, R., Myers, R., Craig, M.T. & Pratchett, M. 2010. Chaetodon pelewensis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2015.2. . Downloaded on 13 August 2015.

Randall, J.E. 2005. Reef and shore fishes of the South Pacific. New Caledonia to Tahiti and the Pitcairn Islands. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press 707 pp.

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 507 pp. figs.

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Steene, R.C. 1978. Butterfly and Angelfishes of the World. Australia. Sydney : A.H. & A.W. Reed Vol. 1 144 pp. 216 figs.