Chaetodon austriacus Rüppell, 1836
Blacktail butterflyfish
Chaetodon austriacus
photo by Field, R.

 Family:  Chaetodontidae (Butterflyfishes)
 Max. size:  13 cm SL (male/unsexed)
 Environment:  reef-associated; depth range 1 - 15 m, non-migratory
 Distribution:  Western Indian Ocean: Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
 Diagnosis:  Dorsal spines (total): 13-13; Dorsal soft rays (total): 20-21; Anal spines: 3-3; Anal soft rays: 19-19; Vertebrae: 24-24. Axillary scale present. Color: Presence of band around head connected at the nape and throat. Mouth and chin area black while interorbital area with varying patterns of lines, dots and triangles.
 Biology:  Found in coral rich areas; juveniles confined to single coral heads (Ref. 9710). Territorial and usually in pairs. Mainly diurnal. Oviparous (Ref. 205). Form pairs during breeding (Ref. 205).
 IUCN Red List Status:   (Ref. 96402)
 Threat to humans:  harmless
 Country info:  Outside distributional range, occurrence needs further confirmation. Reported from Tubbataha Reefs (Ref. 53416, 57038).

 Entered by: Luna, Susan M. - 06.11.92
 Modified by: Luna, Susan M. - 07.03.06
 Checked by: Agustin, Liza Q. - 12.08.94

Source and more info: www.fishbase.org. For personal, classroom, and other internal use only. Not for publication.


Page created by Jen, 05.08.02, php script by kbanasihan 06/09/2010 ,  last modified by dsantos, 20/08/10