Chaetodon xanthurus, Pearlscale butterflyfish : fisheries, aquarium

Chaetodon xanthurus Bleeker, 1857

Pearlscale butterflyfish
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Chaetodon xanthurus   AquaMaps   Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Image of Chaetodon xanthurus (Pearlscale butterflyfish)
Chaetodon xanthurus
Picture by Muséum-Aquarium de Nancy/B. Alenda

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Acanthuriformes (Surgeonfishes) > Chaetodontidae (Butterflyfishes)
Etymology: Chaetodon: Greek, chaite = hair + Greek, odous = teeth (Ref. 45335).
More on author: Bleeker.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Marine; reef-associated; non-migratory (Ref. 52884); depth range 6 - 50 m (Ref. 37816). Tropical

Distribution Territories | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Western Pacific: Indonesia and the Philippines, north to the Ryukyu Islands (Ref. 9710).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 14.0 cm SL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4858)

Short description Identification keys | Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 12 - 14; Dorsal soft rays (total): 20 - 23; Anal spines: 3; Anal soft rays: 15 - 17.
Body shape (shape guide): short and / or deep; Cross section: compressed.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Adults inhabit clear coastal to outer reef slopes and drop-offs (Ref. 48636). They are found around staghorn corals. The only member of the family with a crosshatch pattern of dark lines on the sides. Generally seen below 15 m depth and occurs singly or in pairs. They feed on small benthic invertebrates and algae, similar to C. mertensii (Ref. 37816). Oviparous (Ref. 205). Form pairs during breeding (Ref. 205).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Distinct pairing (Ref. 205). Monogamous mating is observed as both obligate and social (Ref. 52884).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Allen, G.R., 1985. Butterfly and angelfishes of the world. Vol. 2. 3rd edit. in English. Mergus Publishers, Melle, Germany. (Ref. 4858)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435: Version 2025-2 (Global))

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 08 October 2009

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquarium: commercial
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Trophic ecology
Food items (preys)
Diet composition
Food consumption
Food rations
Predators
Ecology
Ecology
Population dynamics
Growth parameters
Max. ages / sizes
Length-weight rel.
Length-length rel.
Length-frequencies
Mass conversion
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Abundance
Life cycle
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Maturity
Maturity/Gills rel.
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Eggs
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Larvae
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Distribution
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Stamps, coins, misc.
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References

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Special reports

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Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | National databases | OneZoom | Open Tree of Life | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | Public aquariums | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | TreeBase | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoobank | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index
(Ref. 82804) 		PD50 = 0.5000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight a=0.02291 (0.01128 - 0.04653), b=3.00 (2.83 - 3.17), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this Genus-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level
(Ref. 69278) 		2.8   ±0.26 se; based on food items.
Resilience
(Ref. 120179) 		High, minimum population doubling time less than 15 months (Preliminary K or Fecundity.).
Fishing Vulnerability
(Ref. 59153) 		Low vulnerability (18 of 100). 🛈
Price category
(Ref. 80766) 		Unknown.
Nutrients
(Ref. 124155) 		Calcium = 113 [58, 169] mg/100g; Iron = 0.858 [0.517, 1.405] mg/100g; Protein = 18.4 [17.2, 19.5] %; Omega3 = 0.119 [0.073, 0.192] g/100g; Selenium = 34.6 [19.2, 64.0] μg/100g; VitaminA = 52 [14, 183] μg/100g; Zinc = 1.65 [1.13, 2.34] mg/100g (wet weight);