Chaetodon rainfordi

(McCulloch, 1923)

Vernacular names
English : Rainford’s butterflyfish
French : Poisson papillon de Rainford

Classification
Class : Teleostei
Order : Acanthuriformes (sometimes still Perciformes)
Family : Chaetodontidae
Notes : No subspecies known.

Identification
Adults can reach 15 cm in length. Body round in shape with not so protruding snout. Coloration bright yellow. Face with blue-edged vertical orange bars. Flanks with two broad dotted lilac blue bands, broadly edged with orange.

Range and habitat
The species occurs in the western Pacific Ocean where it is restricted to the Great Barrier Reef (and nearby east Australia) and Lord Howe Island. Lives in coastal and offshore coral reefs, from 5 to 20 meters deep.

Conservation
IUCN RED LIST : NEAR THREATENED
CITES : Not Listed
Status : The species is declining in most of its range because of habitat loss and coral reef destruction (bleaching events).
Ex-Situ Programs : None known

Observation

 

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