Peppered Butterflyfish, Chaetodon guttatissimus Bennett 1833

Other Names: Gorgeous Gussy, Spotted Butterflyfish

A Peppered Butterflyfish, Chaetodon guttatissimus, in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, February 2014. Source: cocos_karen / iNaturalist.org. License: CC By Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:

A silvery white butterflyfish with irregular vertical rows of dusky spots or speckles on the side (rows horizontal on lower side), a narrow dark bar through the eye, an orange bar at the rear of the dorsal fin and upper caudal peduncle, a black submarginal band on the tail, and a yellow margin on the dorsal fin.

Cite this page as:

Bray, D.J. & Thompson, A.S. 2020, Chaetodon guttatissimus in Fishes of Australia, accessed 20 Apr 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/4832

Peppered Butterflyfish, Chaetodon guttatissimus Bennett 1833

More Info

Distribution	Australian territories of Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. Elsewhere, the species is widespread in the Indian Ocean: East Africa and South Africa, east to Christmas Island (Indian Ocean) and the Andaman Sea coast of Thailand. Individuals or pairs inhabit coral rich areas in lagoons and seaward reef slopes.
Features	Dorsal fin XII-XIII,22-24; Anal fin III, 16-18; Pectoral fin 13-14; Lateral line scales 34-43. Body depth 1.4-1.8 in SL; snout length 2.8-4.0 in HL.
Feeding	Feeds in live coral - most likely an obligate corallivore.
Fisheries	Although occasionally sold in the aquarium industry, the species is difficult to maintain in captivity as it feeds on live coral.
Remarks	At the Australian Territory of Christmas Island, the Peppered Butterflyfish hybridises with the Spotbanded Butterflyfish, Chaetodon punctatofasciatus.
Etymology	The specific name guttatissimus is from the Latin guttatus (= spotted, speckled) and -issimus (= very, highly) in reference to the close-set grey spots or speckles on sides.
Species Citation	Chaetodon guttatissimus Bennett, 1833, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1832(2): 183. Type locality: Sri Lanka (as Ceylon).
Author	Bray, D.J. & Thompson, A.S. 2020
Resources	Atlas of Living Australia Australian Faunal Directory Catalog of Fishes

Peppered Butterflyfish, Chaetodon guttatissimus Bennett 1833

References

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Allen, G.R. & Steene, R.C. 1988. Fishes of Christmas Island Indian Ocean. Christmas Island Natural History Association, Christmas Island, Indian Ocean, 6798, Australia. 197 pp.

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Bennett, E.T. 1833. Characters of new species of fishes from Ceylon. Proceedings of the General Meetings for Scientific Business of the Zoological Society of London 1832(2): 182-184. See ref at BHL

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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.

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Smith, Wm. L., Webb, J.F. & Blum, S.D. 2003. The evolution of the laterophysic connection with a revised phylogeny and taxonomy of butterflyfishes (Teleostei: Chaetodontidae). Cladistics 19(4): 287-306 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1096-0031.2003.tb00374.x