Teardrop Butterflyfish, Chaetodon unimaculatus Bloch 1787


Other Names: Pacific Teardrop Butterflyfish

A Teardrop Butterflyfish, Chaetodon unimaculatus, at Comets Hole in the lagoon at Lord Howe Island, Tasman Sea. Source: Andrew J. Green / Reef life Survey. License: CC by Attribution

Summary:
A whitish butterflyfish with yellow dorsal, anal and pelvic fins, a large teardrop shaped black spot on the upperside, a broad black bar though the eye, fine yellowish-orange chevron-shaped markings on sides before the black spot, and a black submarginal band across the caudal peduncle and running onto the dorsal and anal fins.

Video of a Teardrop Butterflyfish at Miyako Island, Okinawa

Cite this page as:
Dianne J. Bray, Chaetodon unimaculatus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 29 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/2404

Teardrop Butterflyfish, Chaetodon unimaculatus Bloch 1787

More Info


Distribution

Recorded in Australia from North West Cape, Rowley Shoals, and Scott Reef, Western Australia, Osprey Reef and Kenn Reef, Coral Sea and the northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, to Sydney, New South Wales, and at Lord Howe and Middleton and Elizabeth Reefs in the Tasman Sea. Found elsewhere in the tropical, Indo-west-central Pacific.

Feeding

Omnivore - feeds mostly on soft and hard corals; also consumes polychaete worms, small crustaceans, and filamentous algae.

Species Citation

Chaetodon unimaculatus Bloch, 1787, J. Morino 3: 75, pl. 201 (fig. 1). Type locality: East Indies.

Author

Dianne J. Bray

Teardrop Butterflyfish, Chaetodon unimaculatus Bloch 1787

References


Allen, G.R. 1997. Marine Fishes of Tropical Australia and South-east Asia. Perth : Western Australian Museum 292 pp. 106 pls.

Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.

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 figs 1-2

Allen, G.R., Steene, R. & Allen, M. 1998. A guide to angelfishes and butterflyfishes. Odyssey Publishing/Tropical Reef Research.

Allen, G.R., Steene, R.C. & Orchard, M. 2007. Fishes of Christmas Island. Christmas Island : Christmas Island Natural History Association 2 edn, 284 pp.

Allen, G.R. & Smith-Vaniz, W.F. 1994. Fishes of Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin 412: 1-21.

Allen, G.R. & Swainston, R. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A field guide for anglers and divers. Perth, WA : Western Australian Museum vi 201 pp., 70 pls.
Bloch, M.E. 1787. Naturgeschichte der ausländischen Fische. Berlin : J. Morino Vol. 3 146 pp. pls 181-216.

Francis, M. 1993. Checklist of the coastal fishes of Lord Howe, Norfolk, and Kermadec Islands, southwest Pacific Ocean. Pacific Science 47(2): 136-170 figs 1-2

Hutchins, J.B. 2001. Biodiversity of shallow reef fish assemblages in Western Australia using a rapid censusing technique. Records of the Western Australian Museum 20: 247-270.

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)

Kuiter, R.H. 1993. Coastal Fishes of South-eastern Australia. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 437 pp.

Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. A comprehensive reference for divers and fishermen. Sydney, NSW, Australia : New Holland Publishers xvii, 434 pp.

Kuiter, R.H. 2002. Butterflyfishes, Bannerfishes and their Relatives. Chorleywood, U.K. : TMC Publishing 208 pp.

Kuiter, R.H. & Tonozuka, T. 2001. Pictorial guide to Indonesian reef fishes. Part 3. Jawfishes - Sunfishes, Opistognathidae - Molidae. Zoonetics, Australia.

Oxley, W.G., Ayling, A.M., Cheal, A.J. & Osborne, K. 2004. Marine surveys undertaken in the Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs Marine National Nature Reserve, December 2003. Townsville : Australian Institute of Marine Sciences 64 pp.

Pratchett, M.S. 2005. Dietary overlap among coral-feeding butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae) at Lizard Island, northern Great Barrier Reef. Marine Biology 148: 373-382.

Pratchett, M.S. & Berumen, M.L. 2008. Interspecific variation in ditributions and diets of coral reef butterflyfishes (Teleostei: Chaetodontidae). Journal of Fish Biology 73: 1730-1747.

Pyle, R. 2001. Chaetodontidae, Pomacanthidae. pp. 3224-3286 in Carpenter, K.E. & Niem, V.H. (eds). The Living Marine Resources of the Western Central Pacific. FAO Species Identification Guide for Fisheries Purposes. Rome : FAO Vol. 5 2791-3379 pp.

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.

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 557 pp. figs.

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

Myers, R. & Pratchett, M. 2010. Chaetodon unimaculatus. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. . Downloaded on 12 November 2013.

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37365061

Conservation:IUCN Least Concern

Depth:1-60 m

Fishing:Aquarium fish

Habitat:Reef associated

Max Size:20 cm TL

Species Image Gallery

Species Maps

CAAB distribution map