Chaetodon capistratus
Foureye Butterflyfish
Collection Details
Specimens
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Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Perciformes (Perciformes, Also Called the Acanthopteri)
Chaetodontidae (Butterflyfishes)
Chaetodon
Chaetodon capistratus (Foureye Butterflyfish)
Description
This species account was compiled from
Composite (multiple sources) (McEachran, J.D. and J.D. Fechhelm. Fishes of the Gulf of Mexico. University of Texas Press, Austin.)
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Characters
Deep bodied and compressed, with a short, pointed snout. Dorsal profile is slightly concave from snout to eye and slightly convex from eye to dorsal fin origin. Jaws are slightly prolonged. Anterior naris is tubelike, and posterior naris is slightly elongated. Lachrymal bone, below eye, is free of scales and has a smooth margin. Preopercular margin is very finely serrated, with corner rounded. Operculum has broad-based spine on posterior margin. Gill rakers on lower limb of first arch are short and slender and number about 14 or 15. Measurements are expressed as percent of SL: head length 29%–34%, snout length 9%–10%, eye diameter 9%–10%, upper jaw length 4%–7%, pectoral fin length 24%–25%, body depth 63%–77%. Pectoral fin has 14 or 15 rays. Dorsal fin has 13 spines and 19 or 20 rays, with third or fourth spines longer than remainder. Anal fin has 3 spines and 16 or 17 rays, with second spine longest. Caudal fin is truncate. Lateral line is incomplete, forms high angular arc, and has 31 to 35 pored scales. Scales form deep sheath at base of dorsal fin.
Color is whitish, with a dark bar running from nape through eye and lower section of interoperculum, and a large ocellus on upper part of body below rayed section of dorsal fin. Scale rows are marked with dark dashes forming pattern of diagonal lines that meet along midflank at about a 45° angle. Rayed sections of dorsal, anal, and caudal fins have dark submarginal stripes. Juveniles have an additional spot on posterior section of dorsal fin.
Distribution
Western Atlantic: Massachusetts, USA and Bermuda to West Indies and northern South America. Also Bahamas, Gulf of Mexico, and Antilles (Ref. 26938).
Habitat Associations
Marine. reef-associated. depth range 2-20 m. Found in: coral reefs.
Biology
Inhabit shallow reefs and generally occurs singly or in pairs. Feed mainly on zoantharians, polychaete worms, gorgonians and tunicates. Easily approached (Ref. 9710). Oviparous (Ref. 205). Form pairs during breeding (Ref. 205).
Max length: 15.0 cm TL.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; mating system: monogamy; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Form pairs during breeding (Ref. 205). Monogamous mating is observed as obligate, genetic and social (Ref. 52884).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2009-10-07. Resilience: High (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial.
References
Randall, J.E. (1967) Food habits of reef fishes of the West Indies. Stud. Trop. Oceanogr. Miami 5:665-847.
Burgess, W.E. (1978) Butterflyfishes of the world. A monograph of the Family Chaetodontidae. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey.
Allen, G.R. (1985) Butterfly and angelfishes of the world. Vol. 2. 3rd edit. in English. Mergus Publishers, Melle, Germany.
Birkeland, C. and S. Neudecker (1981) Foraging behavior of two Caribbean chaetodontids: Chaetodon capistratus and C. aculeatus. Copeia 1981(1):169-178.
Lieske, E. and R. Myers (1994) Collins Pocket Guide. Coral reef fishes. Indo-Pacific & Caribbean including the Red Sea. Haper Collins Publishers, 400 p.
Randall, J.E. (1996) Caribbean reef fishes. Third Edition - revised and enlarged. T.F.H. Publications, Inc. Ltd., Hong Kong. 3nd ed. 368 p.
Smith, C.L. (1997) National Audubon Society field guide to tropical marine fishes of the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, Florida, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York. 720 p.
Allen, G.R., R. Steene and M. Allen (1998) A guide to angelfishes and butterflyfishes. Odyssey Publishing/Tropical Reef Research. 250 p.
Whiteman, E.A. and I.M. Côté (2004) Monogamy in marine fishes. Biol. Rev. 79:351-375.
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